


You're live on Monomi radio!

by xShieru



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Radio, Crack, Developing Relationship, Gen, M/M, Possible OOC for plot reasons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-16
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-04 21:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1085653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xShieru/pseuds/xShieru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hosting a late night radio show was the least of Hinata's problems. In which two punks become local celebrities, Nanami plays the cupid and Hinata's favorite caller hits on him. </p><p> </p><p>It's awesome.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to the world of lame jokes and crack. This is my Christmas present for ya'll Komahina lovers. Thank you for all of your support, you guys are AWESOME. This story is actually a really really long oneshot that is divided into 4 parts. Why? Because I like to get on your nerves. The next update will be this Friday and the last one will be on Christmas.  
> Thank emulikule for this idea  
> Also i must warn you: THIS IS A CRACK FIC. I DID NOT AIM FOR THE CHARACTERS TO BE COMPLETELY IN CHARACTER. If it bothers you too much I suggest you do not read this because you might be offended. Chiaki has a very sassy hostess facade, keep that in mind. If you're prepared for this, go on ahead~ Please enjoy and happy upcoming holidays~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to the world of lame jokes and crack. This is my Christmas present for ya'll Komahina lovers. Thank you for all of your support, you guys are AWESOME. This story is actually a really really long oneshot that is divided into 4 parts. Why? Because I like to get on your nerves. The next update will be this Friday and the last one will be on Christmas.  
> Thank emulikule for this idea  
> Also i must warn you: THIS IS A CRACK FIC. I DID NOT AIM FOR THE CHARACTERS TO BE COMPLETELY IN CHARACTER. If it bothers you too much I suggest you do not read this because you might be offended. Chiaki has a very sassy hostess facade, keep that in mind. If you're prepared for this, go on ahead~ Please enjoy and happy upcoming holidays~

**_June 14th, 09:58 pm_ **

**_First impressions_ **

 

“C’mon, Nanami, we’re gonna be on air soon, how hard can it be setting up a single laptop?”

The said woman is fussing with a dozen of different USB cables - half of them which Hinata has never seen in his life and has no idea what purpose they have, thus deeming them unnecessary. She stares at them with a slight frown like they've somehow personally offended her. It would've been better if it stayed that way, however once he speaks up, she slowly turns her head in his direction - with the type of slowness that belongs in horror movies. She shoots him a flat look like he's stupid or something for not realizing the importance and severity of the situation that they are currently stuck in. Go back to horror movies, Nanami, nothing for you to do in this world.

She peeks at him from underneath the table, which is covered in useless shit that they obviously won’t need, half of her face obscured. The top of her pink hair is heavily coated in a white layer of dust. There’s even a tiny dust ball stuck on the side of the strands. Once Hinata squints his eyes, he can confirm that, yes, it’s indeed a dust ball - a monstrosity that only forms in unkempt places, read: here. The last time the studio had been properly cleaned was probably before Columbus had discovered America or even waaaay before. Hinata continues glaring in his own ‘warning: douche guy spotted’ way and refuses to mention the dust balls stuck in the woman’s hair. She hates those things with a feverish passion - just like she hates broccoli and that old cat lady living next door. If she knew that one was stuck in her hair, she'd go into a cardiac arrest. Maybe three in a row.

That would serve her right for bringing him along - no, _dragging_ him - into this mess. It’s quite bothersome, Hinata is already done even though the show hasn’t even started yet, and he’s more than ready to leave but Chiaki reads his mind like always and sends him a warning look that could probably melt metal. So here he is - stuck with her growling and snarling at him like a wild dog.

Apparently signing up for a late night radio show is Chiaki’s idea of fun, but Hinata has to disagree. She calls him a stuck up and he shoots back that his and her ideas of fun are very different. She then tells him to shut the hell up and pass her a cable that rests next to his foot.

You see, despite mumbling and growling, Hinata knows that he’s staying here until the very end because one does not simply say no to the pink-haired woman. It’s a bit unsettling - how are they gonna host a late night radio show? It's a slot that lasts from 10 pm to midnight and he’s not sure how this is supposed to be _fun_ when all of their listeners are going to end up being some random drunk creepers and perverts who happened to change the channel on their radios and stumble across their silly show. Dealing with assholes like that isn’t his strong forte, if anything, it riles him up.

“Turn that frown upside down, mister, you'll have to be charming tonight or everyone is going to be turned off by your doucheness, and then our first impression will be bad. In other words - no listeners equals no ratings.”

He doesn’t say anything in return, only crosses his arms, huffs, and plays with the cord of his headset. Chiaki finally wrestles the right cable into her laptop, untangles her legs from the mess of cables that are waiting for the right moment to strangle her. She tells them to suck it and shoves the multicolored wires under the table. She’s charming as ever and Hinata can’t help but smile at that.

It’s obviously his 'up-to-no-good' smile and Chiaki catches onto it pretty quickly. “Is there something wrong?” she dusts off her black hoodie, completely neglecting the white mess in her hair and it makes Hinata’s shit-eating grin grow. “No, seriously, cut the crap. Is there something wrong with how I look?”

“You look as beautiful as Snow White.” He stresses the words _Snow White_ and Chiaki, in a terrifying moment of realization, pats her head right where the dust ball hangs off. Her face turns pale. Hinata lets out a loud guffaw and hits his hand against the tabletop.

“Ew, gross! Asshole!” Chiaki barks and wipes at her hair frantically. “What is wrong with you!”

It’s unusual for her to scream out like that - she’s usually calm and collected, not one to show extreme emotions - but the frown that twists her face like she had discovered a spider shoved down her underwear is priceless, and he’ll be damned if it isn’t funny as heck.

If the time they spend together in this overstuffed kingdom of useless crap and devilish cables turns out to be just as fun as this little moment, then perhaps Hinata won’t mind working here. It’s actually pretty interesting how they've managed to land a job here in the first place. It won’t be for long, two months at best - just a little something to pass the time during the summer. Usually, it’s rather hard to get in here  - unless you’re some big-shot, who has finished all of the mandatory oratory courses that your university had to offer and had at least three letters of recommendation up your sleeves - and here they are.

One more thing to add to his long _long_ list named 'weird jobs I’ve worked at without getting kicked out after four days'.

It’s not like Hinata has a better way to spend his evenings - studying just isn’t that appealing, and the only night jobs  _more than willing_ to take him in were of the strip club kind. As much as he likes looking at girls and guys taking off their clothes to some upbeat tune, he also thinks that he can do so much better than that. He shouldn’t sink to that level, not yet at least. Not to mention the creeper of a boss he would've had in that place - his way of speaking and his smiles betraying ulterior motives, that involved Hinata throwing his clothing aside, and not on stage but somewhere more _private_. Hinata wasn’t about to bend over that table anytime soon, so he said _fuck it_ and left like a gentleman, almost breaking minor stuff in his haste to leave.

And so, cue a chorus of angels as Chiaki had descended down to his tiny - and not all that shitty, shut up – apartment. She stroked his weirdly-shaped hair with her angelic hands, and then said ‘yo, we are gonna work at a radio station. I didn’t tell you about it beforehand just because I could, and I knew that you would say no. Haha it's too late now, loser, let's get going’.

And then she took the strawberry ice-cream that he had been saving up for Friday and hiding away from her meaty claws. Hinata tried explaining that he had called _dibs_ on it - it was his food for God’s sake, his _money_ \- but she didn’t have any of it, and grabbed it anyways.

(It’s like she develops a sixth sense whenever there's sweet stuff involved. It's probably a girl thing.)

While Chiaki gobbled down _his frozen treat_ like there was no tomorrow and half-listened to Hinata’s frantic bitching, she let it slip that she was on very good terms with the person in charge. A little bird had told her that the ex-pair that were hosting their show ended up hooking up and then went on a fabulous summer-long honeymoon, or some shit like that. After that, all that Chiaki had to do, was make doe eyes at the manager, flutter her long purple mascara-coated eyelashes, stick her lower lip out for extra effect, and the poor unsuspecting person had caved in. At the time, Hinata wasn’t really listening to her, too busy boiling in his own anger.

He tried slipping away, multiple times, but to no avail, and now some chick with - which size goes after ‘Z’? – cups, is banging on the thin glass that separates their small sound booth from the equally stuffy hallway, her red-painted lips mouthing something. Hinata wants to sneak in a blonde joke somewhere in there, but figures that the chick is born stupid because the glass doesn’t really let any sound in and the other way around - just like it's kind of supposed to. After a while she seems to finally realize that her soundless gasping is nothing more but an air consumption. Only then she looks up and points at the neon red sign that spells ‘ON AIR’ in big bold letters. Chiaki is already in position and with a sigh Hinata rubs his temples.

This is going to be a looong night.

* * *

 

It could've been worse. Way worse.

It's actually  _fun._

They even get callers, none of them of the drunken kind.

“Hello and welcome everyone! You’re listening to Monomi Radio!” Chiaki chirps into her mic and Hinata is left with his jaw dropping. It's like she suddenly became a whole new person and he'd think that all of this is a really weird dream, but Chiaki’s expression isn’t showing only minor emotions as always. It's like she's a programmed entertainment robot or something like that. Then again, she always acts like one - maybe she's not even real? He'll have to test out that hypothesis later. “We are your new fun _fun_ host duo NanaHi—“

“NanaHi?” Hinata chokes and Nanami doesn’t bother stifling a small laugh that escapes her. “ _Hey hey hey_ , what do you mean NanaHi? That’s just dumb; it sounds like a sneeze of an old man! Why not something like HinaNana?”

“Because that’s lame. You’re lame.” Chiaki pulls at her lower eyelid and Hinata sputters indignantly. “Dear listeners, you have heard the angelic voice of my lame—“

“Hey!”

“ _Lame_ colleague. From this day on, we'll be taking up the slot from 10 pm to midnight from Ritsuka and... her boyfriend. Happy wedding to them, may they have lots of babies in the near future!” she claps her hands in glee, but her face is still forced in its deadpan expression. Hinata chews on his lower lip to hold in his laughter. Their listeners probably think that they're crazy already. “Alright, so let’s start again - we are definitely not NanaHi or HinaNana, because let’s face it, that sound kind of awful. My name’s Nanami and this is my partner Hinata." Hinata hums a light ‘hello’ into his mic, already getting into his act. “We will be doing a little of many different kinds of things to lighten up your tired moods after a day of work. Some gossip, some games, chats about life, hobbies and etc. - anything you want. Feel free to request a particular subject; we are always open to new suggestions! Of course, we'll also be playing some music, not the stupid stuff that makes your ears bleed—“

“No Skrillex.”

“Skrillex-free zone here.”

“Some calming tunes for the mind-”

“Body and soul. Like maybe some rock—“

“Can we really play that? What can we play?” Hinata raises an eyebrow, because it is Chiaki who has the entirety of their music in her flash.

“We shall keep this a secret for now. I am sure our dear listeners will enjoy it.” The devilish glint in her eyes doesn’t mean anything good, he knows that much.” To answer Hinata’s question - we are alright with a huge variety of different genres. If you have any specific bands or songs in mind that you would like to hear, then give us a call or request it on our official page.”

“If those are all your video game soundtracks saved in that flash—“

“Hey, lay off. Utada Hikaru is a goddess. Don’t pretend that you weren’t singing it in the shower, I heard you.”

“I’m pretty sure that was you.”

“Perhaps it was. Can’t remember at the moment, hmm… Just close your eyes and let it pull you under, a fountain of good emotions.”

Hinata can’t help himself and imagines a huge fountain crafted from black stone hurtling at his head at 400 km/ph. “Fountain of what now? I think you meant _a wave_ —“

“Shhh,” she shushes him and closes her eyes. “Don’t speak, hear.” She looks like she’s drifting into her sleep mode which resembles a monk meditating in order to reach Nirvana, so Hinata takes the reigns before their first show turns into a complete disaster, his voice confident.

“As you can hear, my partner is a hardcore video game fan, _no, Nanami,_ nobody is talking about video games right now, go back to sleep. Before she starts singing, a thing that she absolutely cannot do without making glass crack — _ow_ , let’s talk. It’s a good time for proper introductions now that she’s lost in lala land. As we mentioned before, our names are Hinata and Nanami, and that’s the most you’re getting from us. I am 21 and Nanami— how old are you again?”

“Rude. Don’t expect me to give you anything for Christmas.”

“Nanami, Christmas is like half a year away.”

“I picked out a good one, too. Now you’re getting coal in that sock of yours and a roll of toilet paper.”

“It's so _not_ my fault that you decide to come over at the wrong times!”

“If you say one more thing I'll force-feed you sakuramochi, don’t you dare test me. I am 20 years old, currently not doing much in life. I am a freelance programmer and my good friend here, that I wouldn’t mind choking right now if he wasn’t on the other side of the table, is a good studious fellow and he’s the guy you wanna go to if you want to get your… whatever pierced. A lovely friend of ours is _very proud_ of that piercing in her vagina, courtesy of—“

“Stop right there.”

“Well, you get the deal. He can do it and he can do it _painlessly._ The two of us work at weird places and this radio show will be a challenge of sorts. I own a rabbit, when Hinata sleeps - he drools, and that’s really all you need to know about us. Now, I'm pretty sure that all of you don’t want to listen to us rambling about weird stuff for hours, so please do call us, kiddos, if you’re up for a chat. You can even request which one of us you want to talk to - you got nothing on me, go sit in the corner and learn from the pros, Hinata—“

“You sure as hell won’t be saying that by the end of the night. I’ll make you eat those words.”

“If I win, you treat me lunch for the rest of your life.”

“A week of free food for me. This is kinda cool.”

“I’ll ignore that sentence, but yeah. Deal.”

They send each other challenging stares and seal the deal with sharp nods of their heads.

“And now, let’s start this evening with one of my all-time favorite bands which I will never not love - ‘Panic at the Disco!’ and their song ‘Mona Lisa’.”

“I honestly expected something worse.” Hinata laughs into his mic and leans back in his chair. Chiaki blows out her cheeks angrily at him.

“Stuff it,” she growls and works her laptop.

They are off to a good start with their comedy duo act. People love them.

* * *

 

“No, this is just crazy! I would never date this thing.” Hinata sputters into the mic and the girly laughter tingles in his ears like bells swaying in the wind. It’s the second caller that night, who implies that there’s something going on between him and Nanami. He’s not sure how they even _see it,_ all they've been doing this evening was bantering about stupid stuff like the types of underwear. Nanami was heatedly explaining to their listeners that briefs made Hinata’s ass look too big and Hinata retorted with her always wearing grandma panties. That conversation ended on a very awkward note for both of them when Nanami was asked about thongs and she called them _comfortable_.

The initial shock that she owns such item has yet to wear off and it still makes his brain fry. No amount of headdesking could ever help Hinata rid himself of _this_ knowledge.

“Excuse you? Says the guy with an ahoge.”

“Are you one to talk, cotton candy? You have pink hair. _Pink._ Who even does that?”

“Punk never dies!”

“You’re the farthest thing from punk that I’ve ever seen, Nanami. The only punk I remember is that kid Kuwata from high school and that was laughable.”

“He used to sell some mad weed though.”

“He had nothing on that Hagakure person. I think he was some sort of weed whisperer. I'll always remember how he used to hide it in his hair and nobody ever found it.”

“He used to forget it himself; he got busted once because it was sticking out too much. If our dear listeners are having a hard time imagining how it's humanly possible to hide drugs in your hair, then imagine a palm and stick a human face on it. That’s it. You got the weed man.”

“He taught Kuwata all of his weed whisperer secrets, that’s what Naegi told me anyways. Man, those were great times, especially when you threw up all over the table in the middle of one of Kuwata's parties and then fell asleep on it. It was gross as hell but it deserves an honorary mention. I feel sorry for the people who had to clean up after you, they were pretty pissed. Be glad that Tsumiki and I dragged your stoned ass out of there.”

“I don’t remember that happening. You’re making this up.” Nanami frowns and looks deep in thought. Hinata rolls his eyes.

“That’s because you were stoned, dumbass. Usually when people are stoned they don’t remember anything. Nor do they really think about anything other than ‘el-oh-el, look, a shoelace’.”

“I'm not sure how our subject on us totally and completely NOT dating turned into reminiscing about the past and weed experiences. I truly hope that the people we've mentioned aren't listening to this. If you are, then I hope you’re not locked up in a rehabilitation institution and the two of us say hi. So remember kids, weed is whack. Don’t do weed.”

“If you do, we will find you and we'll smack the shit out of you.”

“Weed police.”

Hinata howls like a police siren and Chiaki laughs. They talk about even more useless stuff, get some calls, check the mail for requests and their first night is a top hit.

Neither of them wins the 'free lunch for a week' deal because they didn't have any special requests, but once they leave the building, they agree that they won’t forget about this. Then, they go their separate ways, Hinata takes the bus and Nanami walks home by foot.

* * *

 

_**June 15th, 11:05 pm** _

_**Honorary mentions of undiscovered stage talents** _

 

“Now that was a good song, you can’t even argue.” Chiaki wheezes and Hinata snorts into his bottle of water.

“This will be our theme song from now on. I want this to be played on my wedding day.”

“In other words never?”

“In other words I'll take a boom box and play it every night below your windows and no amount of panty throwing will make me stop.”

“I'll throw BunBun on you, then.”

“Keep that devil rabbit to yourself; I don’t think even hounds would attack it. Why didn’t you call it Lucifer instead?”

“I would have, but then people would know what to expect so it wouldn’t be that fun.” She looks content and Hinata rolls his eyes, focusing his attention back on the show, Nanami already ranting away into her mic.

“Dear Audience, please send in more of your original songs. We love every minute of them. The context doesn't matter - whether it is about a girl that you love, the raindrops that shine on the grass, the waiting for the bus in the rain, or the dog that you tried to sex up last night, like the one we just played - we'll enjoy it. We are a nonjudgmental community - song-wise, if you hump dogs, then you need to seek out some professional help. Tonight, we honor our dear friend Mioda Ibuki, who has finally left for America to make a name for herself and her band called ‘Can’t Believe It’s Not Your Baby’ which is totally not ironic and we love her for her bravery, especially after that incident with the press. Shine on, you crazy diamond! We love you! Hinata will always be proud that he pierced your—“

“I swear to god, if you say it one more time.”

“Right. Killjoys everywhere, I keep forgetting that you’re secretly a fifty year old lady that still retains her period-induced mood swings.”

“Honorary mentions of Ibuki slapping a press representative with a dead fish - I am still not sure how a human being such as her exists nor am I certain as to how the hell that even happened – and her vagina piercing aside, tonight is the night for all of you bright young musicians to become known. Let the world hear you. Tell us your life stories. When did you begin developing an interest in music? Was it always within you?”

“Like the force.”

“May the force be with you, Audience.”

“Failed and successful tours, weird incidents. Go anon if you want. We love everything you feed us, kiddos.”

“Gossip about the new fad that has finally reached Japan like a plague that it is, and is ever so slowly making me lose faith in humanity – twerking. Your thoughts?”

“Your feelings about two flesh mounds shaken before you?”

“Does it arouse you?”

“Are you turned on?”

“I know that we are!”

“Give us a call and we can… discuss it.”

They lower their voices to seductive whispers, and then as an afterthought Nanami adds. “No private services allowed. Enjoy yourselves with some ‘Death Cab for the Cutie’ tunes.”

The stories that they get are hilarious, especially from the girl who is quite popular and she doesn’t bother hiding the fact - Hinata can even tell that he’s heard her voice before, but cannot place where - complains about some 'fire-crotch' who hid inside her birthday cake and jumped out, butt-naked and all. He was arrested for it, but the nightmares that the girls of the band had had never stopped. She describes it as the worst birthday party ever, because when the freak jumped out to surprise her, she wasn't even in the room, busy washing her hands in the bathroom. She walked in there a second too late, her mother in lowkey-cardiac arrest from the sheer terror. When she tells them that, Hinata and Chiaki feel like shit for laughing, but the girl reassures that it‘s an exaggerated expression so they start snickering once again. Ah, the fans are _horrible._ Hinata is cracking up at some dude and his sax incident, and the songs are a topping to the cake. They hear the strangest of things and Hinata does not need to ask of Chiaki to save all of these glorious gems in her flash.

Once they're done, he rings up Ibuki just for the hell of it. It's 1 am but it doesn’t matter, because he knows that she never sleeps and the happy woman rants his ear off, thanks for promoting her on their show. At least she’s not mad, so there’s that.

* * *

 

**_June 20th, 10:12 pm_ **

**_Art and photography_ **

 

“Listeners, we've received plenty of fan mail this week requesting us to do a similar show to our last one, but this time involving art and photography. We thought - why the sudden interest in it? But then I did some research and realized that the sudden interest is due to the fact that it's Shinjuku Art week. Now, while I am not a really big fan of art and crafts, nor is Hinata here, let us tell you a story of our adventures at the expo yesterday. Yes, you heard that right - we went to an art expo and we had enjoyed it quite a lot - how totally unexpected of us - so much that we didn’t find any stuff to make fun of. It was a very pleasant evening, indeed.”

* * *

 

Somewhere in a spacious pristine room, a man shuffles in his seat and blinks the tiredness and sleep lingering in his eyes. He stretches his arms above his head until there’s a pleasant pop in his spine and sluggishly clears some of the photographs strewn across on his table. He turns up the volume of the radio a little louder and slowly peels away his suit. It's uncomfortable and restricting and he probably shouldn’t have fallen asleep with it still on. He lazily pops the buttons of his black button-down, but the drowsiness disappears soon after.

“…So you see, I have this friend who lives one floor above me and she threatened to castrate me if I didn’t attend the expo and praised her godly photography. Trust me when I say this, she’s amazing. I mean, a lot of things look appealing to me because I know jack about photography in general, but hers just sticks out from the rest. I am not the only one who approves, far from it, really. So, she barges in at 10 am - even though I always sleep until 11:30 am, it's common knowledge - like, one would say, the evil angered feminist that she is, walks inside while I am still only in my boxers, and threatens me. And while she probably didn't mean the castration - I don't want to test her threats, because I am more than 99.9 percent sure that she wouldn’t hesitate - I know for a fact that the threat of making noise at 3 am is the real deal. Happened before, but it doesn’t matter. Of course, I took Nanami along - because who wouldn’t take this little annoyance - to soothe Koizumi’s nerves—“

“That’s the only reason? You wound me. I won’t let this slide.”

And she truly doesn’t.

“And I guess we had a very fun time. I saw a lot of nice art and the photography section was _damn gorgeous._ I even have some names in the back of my head and I'll make sure to check them out.”

“Take notice of that statement, because some fresh gossip is coming right up. You see, listeners, our dear Hinata here is in deep deep deep love with a stranger. He couldn’t tear his eyes away…”

“Shut it, idiot. Just because I liked his works, does not mean I am _hot_ for the guy.”

“Oh sure sure. If any of you know this Nagito person, his expo presented at the Honju building, section 3A, please contact Hinata Hajime, because he’s in burning desire to meet him. I don’t want him crying into his pillow every night, alright?”

The man chokes on air when he hears this. This is absolutely _not happening._

Someone enjoying his work?

Komaeda Nagito slides into his chair, green eyes wide and cheeks flushed pink, as the radio male host - Hinata, was it? - stutters, trying to salvage the situation.

“There was something about it... I am not sure what...” he trails off, voice gentle, and his listener doesn't need to see his face to know that he’s shy. He’s feeling a bit flushed himself too, not really used to other people complimenting him.

“Let me translate this to human language, so that all of us can understand. We left Koizumi to attend to her important business, in other words spend time with her date. Then we walked around and stumbled upon something amazing. Those photos were very nice, indeed, I fully understand Hinata’s sudden love—“

“Shut up!”

“But we failed meeting the man himself. Koizumi helpfully pointed out the picture where the artist himself was caught. It was a nice pic - if you guys visit the building, make sure to pay attention. I've never seen the sky look so pretty, almost like… cotton candy! Sadly, he was facing away from the lense…”

“I really liked the pose. I wonder where it was taken. Looked quite high up.”

The man shifts in his seat, shivering, and his face flushed a deep maroon. “It was taken in France… The sky was very beautiful that evening, Hinata-kun… Very mesmerizing.” Komaeda knows that he cannot be heard and that he’s talking to no one in particular, trying to convey his feelings. His white hair falls into his eyes and he brushes the stray strands away, gaze fixed on the same photo that Hinata was describing. He felt rather daring that evening, climbed on the rail of a tall building and balanced himself on the very edge, arms spread wide to keep the pose, forest-green coat billowing. It was an amazing feeling and his camera had caught it quite nicely. The angle made it look like he was about to embrace the city and the strawberry pink sky - a very valued shot in his collection.

“He bought a print, dear listeners, isn’t that the cutest thing you’ve ever heard?”

The man’s eyes widen and Hinata sound like he’s choking on something.

“Do you have no shame? We can respect my privacy!”

“I just want the world to know of your beautiful love story.”

“'Beautiful love story' my ass!” For some reason, that stings the white-haired photographer. “But yeah… I truly loved it. _The photography,_ don’t you leer at me like that!”

“Uh-huh, alright. So here you have it, listeners, that’s our romantic love story that could rival… uh, I dunno. Nothing comes to mind at the moment - well, you get what I mean. A love between a faceless stranger and our lovely Hinata. I hope that someday his feelings will be returned!” She fakes crying, followed by a deep sigh, the man’s grumbling sounding like thunder. “And now, tell us about your experiences. Did you go to the opening ceremony like us or are you planning on visiting the gallery this week? It's a must-see - don't be lazy, people, leave your flats and go out to socialize. It will do you good. If you've attended yesterday, tell us about your experiences. Did anything in particular stick out inside your mind? Give us a call and for now, let’s listen to some tunes! I still have to calm our lover boy here - he’s blushing like a tomato. I hope he doesn’t pop or there'll be a lot of sauce to clean up afterwards. We will be back with you shortly!”

* * *

 

“Thank you for all of those wonderful stories, I'm sure that all of us together can one day unravel the secret. Hinata, looks like you've got some serious competition. We still have some time left for more questions and requests regarding the next show’s topics and playlist. Don’t get too carried away though, since the show after that is dedicated to video games, because, as you all know, the world-wide famous game 'Dangan Island' is getting a sequel—“

“And before Nanami here creams her thongs - I will never let that one go, don’t even look at me like that - and goes into despair-induced seizure, I'd like to thank all of you for listening to Monomi Radio. We had quite the crowd today; it’s the first time that we had two or three calls waiting on the line. If some of you didn’t have the time to chat, please write to our webpage!“ Hinata’s attention is caught by two lines lighting up at the same time and he picks out the left one - his favorite one, while Chiaki always goes for the right one. But fuck her - Nanami is still in her despair-induced trance, her thoughts with the video game.

“Hello, this is Hinata and I'm the one taking the calls while Nanami is out of business - and doesn’t show any signs of waking up soon - you’re live on Monomi Radio.”

“Um, hello, Hinata-kun!” The voice sounds a little abashed and Hinata smiles to himself. It’s always nice trying to help the anxious callers to get over their uneasiness and make them feel welcome. “Ah, the ‘-kun’ is not really necessary... but if you insist. Do you have any special requests, um...?”

“Komaeda.” He can almost visualize the fidgeting and it's kind of cute, because the guy has a really nice voice, which is highly weird because guys aren’t supposed to have cute voices? It stands out from the rest of their callers just like his name, but Hinata isn't sure why. It’s the same kind of feeling you get when meeting a person who shares the name or surname with some person you knew a long time ago - like maybe in middle school, or you've briefly interacted with in high school. That kind of feeling. “I wasn't sure if I should give you a call or not, but your experiences in the art expo… well, I was there myself and I know the photographer that you've mentioned.” Hinata perks up at that, his back straight. Even Nanami looks more aware and presses her palm against the headset, gaze focused on the ceiling. “We… are friends. We just happened to listen to your radio show and... he’s really pleased that you enjoyed his measly photography.”

Hinata’s heart thunders and Chiaki’s eyes almost pop out of their sockets. He takes in a deep breath in order to calm himself and spins the cord of the headset around his index finger 'till it turns dark blue. “Uh… Y-Yes, I enjoyed it very much! By no means are his works measly, though! He should keep up the good work, um… I wouldn’t have minded meeting him.” Hinata blurts out. Chiaki stifles a giggle behind her palm and Hinata shoots her a dirty look. She rolls her eyes at him. Punk.

“The sentiment is returned…” Komaeda breathes out and it's said with such honesty that Hinata can’t help but appreciate. “I know some stuff about photography, too, I guess, but I'm not really that good at it. It's more of a hobby of mine. I don’t think it's any good, I am not sure what people see in it, so I guess… I can sympathize with him. Anyways, I know that you’re running out of time, but I can tell you that you got yourselves a new loyal listener. Your show is very entertaining.” The man lets out a quiet laugh and Hinata twists the cord even more.

“Thank you very much. We… are very happy to hear that people actually enjoy it. Nanami, if you are finally awake…?” He sends her a pleading look and she gives him a half-smile in return. She looks pleased with herself like she knows something that he does not.

“Right. So I guess it's nice to meet you, but we are out of time here, so let’s talk again next time. And now for the closing, I bring you something from the calmer repertoire to end this busy day. ‘Night time’ by ‘The XX’. Goodnight, kiddos!”

She plays the song and takes off her headset. “Well, that was an interesting conversation. Did you notice anything strange about it?”

“Huh?” the brown-haired man blinks and plays with the sharp piercing in his brow, seemingly out of it. “What do you mean strange?”

Chiaki takes a sip of her cold coffee and pulls on the hood of her sweater. “Thought as much. Next time we are doing a show regarding love.”

Now this, he understands. “Oh, lay it off,” he growls and throws an empty bottle in her general direction. She swats it away with surprising ease and it bounces back from Hinata’s forehead. He glowers at her angrily, but then a smirk stretches his face. “So I guess I win the 'free lunch for a week' game, huh?”

“Fuck you. That was a coincidence, I was out of it.”

“All dirty tricks are fair in war, Nanami-dear.” He laughs at her expression, or lack thereof, and packs his belongings. They need to get out within ten minutes before the next DJ comes in.

“You really are dumb sometimes, you know that, right?” she sighs, takes her backpack which is shaped like a pink kitten, and goes for the door, not bothering to wait for him. She turns around to send him a flat look. “No, _oblivious_ is more like it.”

Hinata wants to ask her just what the hell does it even mean - and thinks about how he should do it without truly sounding like a fool who doesn't actually understand what he’s talking about - but she’s out of sight before he can do so, leaving him behind even more confused.


	2. Chapter 2

_**June 25th, 22:02 pm** _

_**Failed love confessions** _

 

“Listeners, we went through your beautiful fan mail and to answer the questions which involved implications about Hinata being really damn gay, I must confirm— _oww!_ How dare you hit a woman, have you no shame? No, wait, don’t answer that.“

“First of all, don’t listen to anything she says. She keeps spreading nasty lies because she now has to buy me food, and if there’s one thing that Nanami hates, it’s—“

“Wasting food on ungrateful brats who have black holes for stomachs and hurt girls even though they're telling God’s honest truth.”

“Second of all, my sexuality is my own business. I am not obliged to answer anything that involves it in any way. By the way, Nanami, you’re going to hell with your truths and your planted gay panic.”

“You planted it yourself, lover boy. And you shall accompany me. We all know that you did worse stuff than me, so you can forget prancing around with angels.”

“Stuff it.”

“Like that hamburger you ate a few minutes ago without sharing with me?”

“Does it look like you deserve it?”

“You won’t be so smug once you’re the one buying me lunch. That’s right, you heard it correctly, Audience. I won’t have to feed this bottomless pit for a full week because—“

“Because you weaseled your way out of this, as usual.”

“No, pit, I'm an honest person. Pits don’t make noises unless they are slobbering food, so please be quiet. As I was saying - it's all thanks to you and your suggestions, dear Audience. My partner in crime wasn't too willing to open up the topic regarding one of the world's most complicated and wonderful human emotions – love. We’ve received a lot of your questions, most of their content was identical: please do a show where all of the hopeless romantics can pour out their secret feelings for a special someone. The answer is - of course we can, as long as it's not too explicit. As in, no weird fetishes and other unpleasantness that involve you going at it, are allowed. We don't want to hear anything that would require us giving the talk about 'the birds and the bees'. Remember that we are not an after-midnight show, kiddos, so keep that in mind. However, we thought that the whole live-and-blurt-out-your-feelings theme was too simple, and admittedly, pretty boring for a Friday evening, so we've decided to make it more interesting. Tonight we aren't hosts - we are love doctors and our topic today is 'failed love confessions'. Did you ever confess to a boy or a girl - whichever you’re into - but it had gone so wrong that it’s too embarrassing to remember? Are you still not over them and want to win over their heart, even if you’re that creep who messed up? Tell us your story and we will do our best to help. If you’re only thinking about confessing, tell us how you imagine it! Will you blurt it out on a social network like a true most definitely not manly man or will you sing a serenade below their windows - which I think you really shouldn’t do, because _some people_ value their sleep—“

“What she's trying to say here is that today we accept all kinds of topics that involve you and your object of affections. We'll listen to anything you have to say, you can even confess - and if by any chance you do that, we can only hope that your other half is listening to Monomi radio, so good luck with that.”

“We wish you the best, and for now, let’s kickstart this topic with some lovely music. We shall keep our Western band opening traditions for the show - you don’t know how happy it makes us that we aren't two awkward black sheep who enjoy what the world has to offer instead of strictly sticking to Japanese bands – and I have a very special playlist in store tonight that I had carefully handpicked with all of your suggestions. Hinata, remember when we were still on the road and you kept humming this? It’s for you! ‘Vanilla Twilight’ by ‘Owl city’! Give us a call!”

The song starts and Hinata rubs the back of his neck. Nanami is doing something on her laptop, most likely playing, probably shooting some zombies judging from the sound of it? Her eyes and the metal of her piercings reflect the dim light that comes from the screen. Hinata feels nostalgic.

“I almost forgot this band.”

“I couldn’t even if I tried. Never, not after all of those good times that we've spent together.”

“True,” he hums and closes his eyes for a moment. He didn’t rest well due to the high noise coming from Koizumi’s apartment, as per usual. Her huge ball of rage that could rival Nanami’s demon rabbit - an overgrown Persian cat with gross sticky stuff stuck in its fur, which Koizumi had lovingly called Mr. Fluffy - had destroyed the red-haired woman’s curtains. There was a lot of hissing and screaming and it was fucking horrible. Hinata was too afraid to go up there and say something along the lines of ‘lady, can you calm your fucking Satan cat down before I do and you don’t want that’ so he had to visualize his foot shooting out to kick the flat-faced demon's furry butt instead. Hinata was yawning the entire day but he was very good at masking it - a thing that he had to learn if he wanted to keep his day job. Yawning right into someone’s face while he marked down the spots that were in need to be pierced was very gross, and he’d rather have people saying that he looked like he was constipated instead of bitching about his tired and overworked body's functions that he couldn’t control.

He’s been with Nanami his whole life - well, technically they've known each other since they were 5, but it's close enough. They weren’t all that close at first, just two neighbors sometimes exchanging hellos and it stayed like that until they started going to the same middle school. The two of them ended up being classmates, quickly became friends, and after some time, no longer than a few weeks or so, they became inseparable.

The two of them had quite a lot of things in common and that had led them to where they were now. Chiaki was an only child, an unwanted one none the less, so she didn’t really get along with her parents, while Hinata was the second child in his family, usually pushed aside, his older brother always the one to receive all of the love, praise, and attention. Back when Chiaki and Hinata were two little no-good kids at high school with average grades and average reputation, they both thought ‘fuck this’ and made a run for it right after graduation. It was a hard time for both of them, but it wasn’t like they ever regretted it. The two of them met many amazing people, saw all of Japan, and had done plenty of things that other people couldn’t even dream of. Sleeping in the car or underneath the starry skies wasn’t that bad. Most definitely not as bad as some people made it out to be.

Nanami was thinking about it the same way.

Sometimes Hinata thought that perhaps their journey to discover themselves had changed her for the worse - now, she was tougher, more rude - but beneath all of those layers, she was still the dorky little gamer girl who didn’t know how to express herself properly in some situations, 'lagged' when she didn’t get enough sleep, and could still be cute even if Hinata was the one to damage some of that gentle face with three silver piercings.

She had told him that she didn’t want to feel too left out when Hinata had taken up his job, and well… since they were always together… It wasn't like he could say _no._

He’s abruptly pulled out of his thoughts when the song comes to an end and three lines light up - three eager people waiting to confess their little secrets which involve failed love confessions.

Who knows, it might end up being pretty fun.

* * *

 

Their radio show has a steady following, a bit higher than usual for shows hosted at this time of hour. They aren’t sure if it's due to their silly antics or because it's summer, but their show is slowly getting more and more popular.

Popular enough for some of their friends to go anon and call them in search for some epic love advice that the two of them just couldn’t give.

“And how may we call you, stranger?” Chiaki is rather professional during the show and she gives good advice - better than what Hinata has to offer anyways - to console the poor guys and girls who keep fucking up. Hinata feels really bad when some girl tells them the story about a crush she had going on for quite some time and she had given the guy plenty of hints but he didn't notice anything, and if he did - he was smoothly avoiding the relationship. How dense can one be? The girl finally confesses, it's one of their more serious stories this evening, and Hinata gives his best ‘notice her, you ass’ speech. However, all of that seriousness is gone soon after when a guy, whose voice Hinata knows all too well, calls them.

“…Uh, Kazu. Yeah! Let’s stick with that,”  says the guy, and Hinata has to bite the inside of his cheek. Chiaki doesn't seem to notice and if she does, then she isn’t showing it.

“So tell us your story. Any failed confessions or unsuccessful romances? Maybe tonight is the night you’re feeling lucky and daring enough to let the whole world, um, the whole town hear it?”

Oh damn, this is going to be entertaining.

* * *

 

“Okay okay, so let us get this straight. You’re after a girl who is most likely a female goddess that’s been cast out from heaven and you're trying to have a go at her with the whole ‘did it hurt when you fell from heaven’ mumbo jumbo, but it's not going well. Not to mention the fact that you've no idea how to get around a guy - who most likely has an animal fetish, which is really gross now that you put it like that - and she's shown interest in him and at the same time she responds to your undying feelings, but! It's not just that.”

“Wow, that’s an interesting threesome situation you got going on there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it and I’ve seen some weird shit in my life.”

“I dunno, I'd suggest that girl to get her priorities straight - just jump one bandwagon already and ride it. Ride it hard.”

“We are still not an adult show, keep this PG-15.”

“No no no, she’s got a point.” Their caller whines into the phone and his voice slurs. He’d been nursing a bottle of something, something very gross from the sound of it, whenever the man took a swig. They would've already hung up on him if this wasn’t the most entertaining thing that had happened in the span of their rather short shows. “I mean, if I were her, I’d do that, too. I mean... who can resist this piece of sexy ass, but that guy. Well, I say fuck that guy, but also _fuck_ that guy, you know what I mean? It’s not like I'm attracted to him or anything.” They both collectively snort at that lame attempt to sound nonchalant. “He has it where it counts, y’know? If I were a chick, or my lovely princess, then I wouldn’t mind taking a ride, but mine’s soooo much better.”

“Okay, that's kinda gross, but at least you’re admitting to your severe threesome problems. We won’t judge ya. “

“At least we’re talking about rides and not… stuff.”

“Stuff,” snorts Chiaki. “Wow, what are you,12?”

“Look, just because I'm trying to keep us our job here does not give you the right to jibe at me. So buckle up, shove your mouth into that pussy-patterned cup over there - I fucking hate cats, special thanks to my lovely neighbor - and speak about cocks into it instead of the microphone.”

“Wow… That was strong. And you’re saying that I'm the one not keeping this family-friendly? Good thing I'm here to salvage the situation. We're talking about grown up male chickens, so feel free to get your minds out of the gutter.”

“I should probably take you to a special petting zoo where you can stroke all kinds of male chickens to your heart’s content, what do you say? Sounds like a good deal? You could be like... a cock whisperer.”

“Well at least I know that you’ll be joining me and you won’t be petting any pussies. That confession will let me sleep sounder tonight while you jerk that adult chicken of yours with urgent fervency and sob into the pillow in the aftermath. I am highly concerned about your choices of pornos - just what kind of stuff are you into? Cock whisperer? Why not cock annihilators?”

“You bitch.”

“Asshole.”

Their caller is cracking up into the receiver. Both of their attention snaps out of the petty argument. It’s a miracle how he still hasn’t hung up on them. “This is what I've expected from the two of you! Just saying that this way, is what gets this show going and makes you guys so popular. I've got quite a few people behind my back listening to us talking right now - which is quite creepy, _so can you just get the hell off my back!?_ “

“Don’t be too hard on him, dear listeners! He’s stressed, let the guy pour his heart out anonymously. He’s doing a splendid job at it.” Chiaki tries to calm the rowdy crowd that they barely hear on the other end and Hinata knows that she _knows._

“Anyways, guys, what would _you_ advice? Free tatts for you if it works out, I give ya my word!”

“Oh! That would be nice!”

“Nah, man, don’t say that. It would be physically painful for me to look at her if she has one more Hello Kitty inked on her body. You do not wanna do this to me.”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s better than waking up with—“

“And that’s a story for another time. I think that we should go for embarrassing stories as a topic sometime, because Nanami here has more than enough to last her a lifetime.”

“Oh, so you’re just postponing your own doomsday? Works for me,” she chirps and shoots him a dirty look. Hinata responds with one of his own. Oh, it’s on. It’s fucking _on_. He should probably lock her up in here with all of these dust balls around. “Anyways, back to the topic at hand. Souda, pal, buddy, compadre, the better half of me, the apple of my eye—“

It’s dead quiet, when there’s a loud hack, like their caller had accidentally inhaled his bottle of booze.

“Wh-what!?” the man stutters. “How’d you know it was me!?”

“Let’s face it. There’s only one infamous threesome in this entire country, and it is your tragic love story. Plus your face is written all over the place, you couldn’t get away with it even if you tried to lower your voice - which you obviously didn’t do, but we forgive you.” Hinata coos and he'd sell more than half of his belongings - which wasn’t much - to see the look on the man’s face. It's probably hilarious. Next time he should get someone to film it and then yell _‘oooh, punk’d!’_. At least a pic would be nice. He'd hang it up on the wall and treasure it until he turned old and wrinkly, and then left it as a heirloom to his 72 _most definitely not_ cats. Maybe hamsters. Hamsters are kinda cute.

“And you don’t really give favors like that to us. Hinata works with you, has been doing this for how many years...?”

“Two I guess, three this October. I had enough time to memorize your beautiful voice which grates against my ears and nerves like the back of my hand, so listen to us when we say this, man. You tell that Sonia to get her shit straight. Of course, don't be a dick about it, don’t be creepy - be a gentleman as swift as a coursing river and mysterious like the dark side of the moon. Don’t make us play this song for you, because we're aware that you know how it goes. Sonia’s a high class lady and the way you treat her isn’t _right._ Learn a thing or two from Gundam.”

“But not too much, because we know how he is. Unless the 'Lord of the Night’ persona - that's actually meant to cover up the socially awkward penguin act - turns her on, and if it does, then I am a bit worried for her. Just… learn enough to talk to Sonia like a normal person.”

“ _Don’t_ make any comments about her legs or her skirts. She does not like that.”

“And as for your lust for Gundam’s adult chicken, well, I'm sure he’ll let you into his farm—“

“Nanami, gross! Are you feeling well today?”

“I just realized that I am surrounded by homosexuals. I'm not sure how I feel about this, so please refrain from judging me,” she loses her 'radio hostess' charm and goes back to her usual self, staring at her offending cup with a slight frown etched on her face. It’s a bit unsettling. Maybe she had liked the guy or something? But that's just dumb; they didn’t even talk all that much and it was true that everyone knew that Souda was all over Sonia - a girl who truly looks like a model with a wonderful personality to boot.

So why does she look like someone had pissed in her Cheerios?

The man with his hot magenta dyed hair stays quiet, and Hinata thinks that maybe they've fucked up years of broship by ratting him out to all of these people. It'd make him sad if Souda didn't talk to him whenever he showed up to work. His blabbering is dumb and useless most of the time, but it's better than nothing. Hinata is like 50 percent sure that he'd would miss it. Okay, maybe 50 is a bit of a stretch, let’s go for 45.

If Hinata focuses long enough he can hear a weird scrapping sound, but he can’t put his finger around it. He doesn't need to when Souda's ever-cheerful voice finally reaches him. “Done. I was taking down notes.”

“Good boy.” Nanami praises him with a small smile - which still looks a bit off - stretching her face.

“Seriously. _Notes._ I sometimes doubted that you were literate.” Hinata laughs and the man growls into his phone.

“Hey, man, fuck you! Just because I bailed a year earlier than you guys, doesn't mean that I sucked at studying! By the way, I got a special question for you, but first let me make some shit clear - I am absolutely _not_ hot for that dog-humper okay? Lay it off, Nan’, or you’re getting _shit_ instead of Hello Kitties.”

“You wanna go, Bubblegum?”

“Look who's talkin’, cotton candy! I'm so kicking your ass at Mario Cart next time.”

“Need I remind you what happened the last time? I’ll annihilate you, so be ready, biscuit.”

“I could go right now, cupcake!”

“I sometimes question myself; how the fuck are we friends again…? What are you guys, 8? Nah, don’t answer that. Crap, Souda, c’mon, you should know better than to challenge her. We’re working here and I still need her soul among the living. ‘Sides, you’re wasting our on-air time. Just take our advice - talk it out with Son’ and everything will be peachy.”

“If it doesn’t work out, you can always agree on a threesome.”

“Ew, seriously, you’re gross!” The two men shout simultaneously and she just hums, an air of innocence around her. There’s an uneasy pause and Souda seems a bit reluctant. “Yo, Hinata, it’s okay if you’re batting for the other team, I totally respect that, but some confirmation would be nice—“

He did not just—

“God fucking damn it, fuck you, fuck Nanami. Jesus fucking Christ, do you see what you did!? It’s my business alone, don’t listen to that wench—“ The brown haired host explodes and his face flushes a deep red. What the hell is up with that one question that always somehow revolves around his sexuality? Why doesn’t Nanami get shit thrown her way?

“Uh-oh, now he’s pissed. Can we get a censor, please? Next time I'll have to take a whistle to censor it. Farewell, shark bait, congratulations on riling him up and we expect good news soon.” Chiaki says in a rushed voice, Hinata’s ‘you asshole!’ muffled in the background. “Please don't get discouraged and continue telling us your stories. Break time for now, kiddos - we leave you with some ‘Perfume’!”

The brown-haired man takes a sip of water to calm down and Nanami turns her attention back to her game of Solitaire. “Screw that guy… Well, at least we didn’t make a bet.”

“There was nothing to bet over. It was obvious that it's Souda. I mean, he has that "charm" - you could tell it’s him even if he was ten feet under.”

“…You’re still on about that challenge?”

“No. Not at all.” The key smash that follows, tells Hinata enough, and the murderous aura only adds to the whole situation. He prays for Souda’s soul. Even if he acts like a dick sometimes, he doesn't deserve this… much. His fingers will probably be unfeeling after the woman is done with him.

They take a moment to relax while some cheerful and tasteless song plays. Hinata whistles when he sees three lines lighting up. “Whoa, he wasn’t kidding when he said that we're getting some attention. Pick one.”

She goes for her favorite line and their busy night continues.

* * *

 

They get plenty of callers and end up not playing that much music, devoting themselves to helping people solve their problems instead. They kind of suck at it, but they try their best - comfort the sad ones, hear out the happy ones and cheer them on when they confess. They actually manage to get two people together and it leaves them content.

“I really enjoy this job.” Nanami’s lips curl into a gentle smile once they take another break. “It’s really nice helping people. Hinata, _we got them together._ We got two people together, can you believe that?”

“Yeah… it’s kinda hard to believe, but it feels nice, right? Wish something like that would happen to me…” He props his face against his palm and traces the dusty tabletop. When he retracts his finger, he immediately regrets it. This place is in a serious need of a good cleaning and he's not the tidiest person out there.

“Who knows… it might happen.” Her smile is a tad on the mischievous side. Hinata doesn’t really question her anymore, so he lets it slide. “Then again, nothing beats the confession that is said to you directly, instead of via a social network.”

“Got any actual experience to confirm that?”

“More than you, dear.”

“If I took a pin and stuck it into your eye, you'd pop. You’re so full of it.”

“At least I am not swimming, no, _drowning_ , in denial,” retorts the pink-haired woman, and before Hinata can think of some biting comeback, she cuts him off. “C’mon, let’s keep working. We're like the fairy godparents who will keep everyone’s backs. Maybe more happy relationships will happen tonight.”

* * *

 

“Oh would you look at that, it’s my favorite caller.” Chiaki chirps and Hinata feels like his face is about to melt off. God damn it, he should've spared the pleasantries and went for a different line instead. It's that guy with a cute voice from their last show. Currently he's angsting over some guy - damn, Nanami's right, everyone's feeling the gay vibe tonight. Her expression freaks him out, it seems like she's enjoying every moment of this conversation.

“Oh don’t worry, Komaeda, I am sure everything will work out just fine.”

“No, Nanami-san, you don't understand. “ The man lets out an exaggerated sigh and Hinata feels like all of this is a bit _fake_ from both ends. “I'm truly despicable. I am unworthy to approach him!”

“Why do you say this, dear?” Chiaki’s mocking pleasantries intensify and it begins creeping him out. Just what the hell's up with this sudden attitude change? It's no longer her appropriate "hostess façade", but something else entirely. He never thought that the day would come when he'd hear her talk to someone in that sweet voice of hers - the one that she usually uses whenever she wants to get something. Not to mention ‘dear’!? Is the world finally ending? He’ll have to check the weather channel and find out if the pigs are flying. “Why would you deem yourself unworthy?”

Komaeda heaves a tearful sigh - a sigh that only happens in TV dramas. “I… I did mention that I take photos during my free time, correct?"

“Yes, we did talk about this on our last show.”

“So… I've done some very bad things. I saw him in my favorite café, ‘Three clovers’—“

“Really?” Chiaki interrupts before the poor man can finish, pleasantly surprised. Hinata’s eyes widen. He drinks in every word of this conversation. “That’s my favorite place, too! They serve the best strawberry cheesecakes! Actually, Hinata and I go there quite often. Maybe we've even passed each other by a few times, but we didn’t recognize each other.”

“Ah, now that I think about it, it's quite possible. I always go there to relax. I travel around the world very often, so I don’t go there that much. Not nearly as often as I’d like… But that’s not the case right now! I need some advice!”

“Oh, right… Please excuse me, I got distracted so it slipped my mind. Anyways, you said that you’ve done something that doesn't let you approach that person whom you keep seeing in that amazing place. Please tell me that you haven’t done something illegal…”

“Umm…” Komaeda fidgets and Hinata presses his fingers against his headset to hear better. “Well, one day I just happened to have my camera with me… and uh. I saw him there. It was a beautiful day, the lighting was perfect, so I …”

“Oh god, please don’t tell me you took pics without consent.”

“…I took photos without consent.” The man is obviously upset by it and Hinata thinks that it’s kinda cute how ashamed he feels. Then again he’d feel pretty bad, too. Taking photos of someone without their consent is a pretty serious thing.

“Oh man…” Chiaki whistles. “Well, you did say that you’re into photography, so maybe it's not that bad and could be considered forgivable?”

“Yeah I guess, they didn’t have any special content in them.” Hinata finally speaks up after all this time, his voice scratchy. “I do suggest that you keep them to yourself.”

“No internet.”

“No gross editing.”

“O-Of course not! I treasure them! I didn’t really show them to anyone yet and I don’t think that I could simply throw them away. His face looks very nice when he laughs…” The duo is sure that Komaeda is most likely looking at his treasured shots at this very moment, but their personal thoughts and feelings vary. While Hinata can’t tell what Chiaki's thinking - she is wearing a poker face and looks deep in thought - Hinata feels… a bit uncomfortable? Jealous, maybe?

Naaah.

“Well at least your reasons aren’t of the filthy kind, but just in case it switches up, remember - no touching yourself!”

“That stuff’s bad!”

“Your hands will fall off!”

They hear Komaeda let out a quiet laugh and Hinata has to punch his thigh to feel like a manly man again instead of swooning. “I promise, none of that dirty stuff. Um, anyways, I know that guy’s friend and—“

“Wait, I hope you’re not stalking him or anything.”

“Stalking is a strong word, Hinata-kun. I like the word 'research' much more. I seriously didn’t do anything! I guess I'm very lucky… To have an acquaintance who can help me out. I didn’t ask him anything yet, but I wonder if I should. I’d like to know his name at least? What should I do…?”

“I think that…” Hinata trails off and Chiaki sends him a look that he can’t really decipher. “Yeah, you should go for it. I mean. It won’t hurt to try. Maybe your mutual friend can introduce you to each other. Yeah. You should definitely go for it.” The pink-haired woman slaps her palm against her forehead and Hinata raises his pierced eyebrow at that. What the fuck's her problem, he's trying to help the guy out a little. Is he saying the wrong thing?

“Umm… yeah. Yeah, I should definitely do it. Thank you, Hinata-kun.“ Their caller sounds determined and Hinata feels like shit for some reason. A bit… disappointed.

“Uh, you’re welcome, Komaeda. Just - just don’t forget to give us a call sometime and tell us how it went.” He fakes a laugh and brushes off Chiaki’s mean looks, focusing his gaze on the table instead. It'd be nice to know how it went down. It’s not like this one caller sticks out in his head. It probably has something to do with the art expo…

“I know that I've called you a bit late and that your show's almost over, but I was very busy, so please understand. I think that I should give my friend a call right now, perhaps if I find out something new, I can relay it to you before the show ends!”

“Yeah, that sounds amazing. Please do!” Chiaki cuts in before Hinata forces another cheerful reply, and he’s glad that sometimes they connect on a spiritual level. She obviously _sees_ his distress; he can only hope that she won't poke at him too much. He's not in the mood for it. “We’re saying goodbye for now! In the mean time, enjoy yourselves with some more ‘Owl city’. Don’t even lie people, I know you like it. See you!”

They go for a break and Hinata exasperatedly bangs his head against the table top, not really planning on being subtle at all. Nanami dusts off her pastel pink sweater and focuses her drilling gaze on him. “…Got to you, huh?”

“Nah… Not really.”

“If you say so, Hajime,” she heaves a sigh and turns to her laptop. At least she doesn't pry any further. He's not sure how he'd answer all of those lingering questions.

God damn it, there goes his cheerful mood.

* * *

 

They are wrapping up for the night, playing their last cheesy love song, and Hinata is ready to be the first one to leave, let Chiaki deal with some minor requests, when a lone line lights up. It’s his favorite one, too.

“Hello, you’re live on Monomi Radio. Speak fast, kiddos, we don’t have that much time left!” Hinata raises his pierced eyebrow at Chiaki, and her face goes from emotionless to unsettled. “Oh. Komaeda!”

He doesn’t need to be told twice. He stumbles for his head set, messily putting it on. The chick with the humongous rack taps her blood-red fingernail against the glass and points at her silver wristwatch. Her drawn on eyebrows knit together like someone has smeared her upper lip with fresh dog shit.

“Oh crap, we are seriously out of time, man, just tell us the news.” Hinata hurriedly whispers.

“Um, I’ll be quick! I know his name and can you believe that, Hinata-kun - the two of you share the same name! That’s really lovely. Goodnight!” he spills all of those sentences in one go and their time runs out.

They both stand there frozen, lost in their thoughts. From the corner of his eye, Hinata notices the pink-haired woman taking off her headset with stiff hands. “Wow. Would you look at that.”

Hinata’s arms give out completely and he falls face forward on the table. That shit’s gonna bruise, but he doesn’t care.

“I really hope this isn’t some weird and twisted way of hitting on me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See ya this Friday~ Leaving you with some drama here, but please forgive me eheh...


	3. Chapter 3

 

_**June 30th, 11:00 pm** _

_**Video game night turned boring** _

 

“Audience, as we -  or in this case Nanami would be more accurate - had mentioned many many times before, today is the long awaited premiere of Dangan Islands II. Now, I'm pretty sure that most of the young folks, such as I, have their asses squeezed outside, eagerly waiting to get your claws on the shiny packages, and Nanami is among you. Today I’ll be your only host because she somehow weaseled her way out of this. I'm not sure how she can slide off the hook like that, but she did it, and here we are, listeners. Beware of any drooling pink-haired midget females, because trust me when I say this - she will rip your arms off if you cut the line and we don't want any hospitals involved, like it happened when the first game came out. A sleepless Nanami plus intense situations that involve video games is an extremely dangerous combo - she couldn’t sleep for two days now due to her excitement. Tonight, we'll be talking about your favorite video games. Are you the one into games with deep and sometimes way too complex for your comprehension stories - which sometimes turn you into a sobbing mess - or are you only interested in bashing some heads? While I'm not a super kickass expert when it comes to gaming, I’ve played my own fairly big share of videogames and I'm willing to share my experiences. Give me a call! Let’s start things with the Dangan Islands ending theme song ‘Rebuild’ by Megumi Ogata!”

Perhaps it's because Hinata's the only host that night or maybe because, just like he mentioned, most of their listeners were waiting outside with batted breaths for the release of the newest sensational video game, the night goes by very slowly. He gets calls every now and then, tries his best not to bore anyone, but the track of their listeners just isn’t that intense. He even envies Chiaki that she's managed to somehow whine her way out of this. He really does adore the video game that they’ve been mentioning so many times now… He'd give anything to sit around with her at her apartment, in front of her huge TV that she somehow managed to buy with her income, with a stack of junk food and plenty of orange juice to last them a lifetime. He’d love to kick her ass, he really would, but for now he’s kind of chained down to this dusty sound booth and can’t really do much about it, other than play the endless list of video game music that Nanami had bullied him into downloading in that subtle way of hers. And then she chewed on his stack of junk food that he had sneaked in and carefully hid under the cables.

As if on queue, after a full hour, a lone line lights up and Hinata picks up, greeted by the pink-haired woman’s voice. “Hey, loser, missed me?” She sounds ecstatic, like someone had told her that Christmas was coming early this year. Either that or her game is right within the reach of her neon pink painted claws. “I hope you’re not too bored. They're broadcasting our show here, can you believe that? Thanks for causing unnecessary panic, the guards look unsettled. Good thing there are many girls with pink hair out here, I feel like a ninja. Can’t find me. I’ll break your legs and go to America before you get a chance.”

Hinata hears laughter echoing from Chiaki’s end of the line and only then does it finally register that their show is being broadcasted. As in, right now. In front of hundreds of people. “Say hello, everyone, you’re live on Monomi radio.” Chiaki’s shout is muffled like she’s holding the phone over her head and her words are followed by high pitched screaming. Hinata feels his cheeks flushing and excitement pumps in his veins. This is an indescribable feeling. “Is this how famous people feel? When they're famous in a good way without their face being printed on local newspapers for breaking legs during a video game premiere.”

“You covered for me and I said thank you. Also, Hinata, you won’t believe this, but this game’s protagonist looks like your long lost twin brother, I kid you not. Wish you could see it, I mean this is ridiculous. I kind of understand why pink hair is popular today, too, one of the girls in DI has pink hair. She’s so cute.”

“Jealous?”

“…A bit.” Chiaki mumbles earnestly. “Anyways, I’m a kind person, so I'll grab you your copy an. I hope that you come to my place as soon as you’re done. I'll finish the game by then.”

“Seriously? Are you crazy, you got like…” he checks his wristwatch to make sure. It’s barely 11 pm. “Um… an hour? I know that you’re a total maniac and all, but let’s be real.”

“With your lazy ass, let’s add two more to that.”

“You live at the corner of the street.”

“Don’t get all witty with me, boy.”

“I’d clap, but you’re so lame that I don’t think you'd hear me clapping over the sound of your lameness.”

“You’re two times lamer than that.”

“I really hope that wasn’t your idea of a good comeback.”

“Not really, just stating the obvious.”

“Hang up before you kill any more of my brain cells and go back to drooling, girl.”

“Someone has their panties in a twist today. Aww, Hinata, I know that you miss me and all, but can you please wait for like an hour? Mom Nanami will feed your bottomless pit, give you a heat blanket, cranberry juice and a tampon. So don’t destroy the place, because you were 'scared that I'd never return, like, ever'.”

“…Did you just cat meme me?”

“I could have. You wouldn’t know, you old brood.” She sounds so sure of herself that it makes Hinata want to punch something or shove that cracker he’s holding up into her nostril, so that she can suffocate on it.

“This reminds me something.” Hinata smiles his best Grinch smile, as an idea for a great comeback surfaces in his mind. Chiaki’s sharp inhale tells him that she knows that he knows that this can’t be good. “Speaking of video games, what was your favorite? I think it was 'Little Kim', right…?” The woman gasps indignantly and Hinata can’t help but laugh.

You see, Little Kim is a game on a level of its own. It's a very sick and twisted game that some pedophile, with nothing better to do than write about little boys doing things to old geezers, had produced and it was considered to be the most disturbing thing in the history of Japan - the kind of disturbing that'll go down to history with its levels of downright fucked upness. If you have any gross things in mind, then make them ten times worse, and here you have it. The legend. The one and only.

Little Kim.

And Hinata had walked in on the pink-haired woman playing it.

“You’re a liar. Come up with something better.”

“Nanami, you were playing that game at 1 am and you were crying.”

“Okay genius, backtrack here. First of all, I had company over and you know how girls’ only sleepovers go.”

“You get high and then everyone runs to the bathroom to throw up after disturbing experiences, that bring out the deepest despair known to mankind?”

“Yes, that too, and here, you said it yourself - I was high. We thought it was a good idea.”

“Nana’, half of your company was passed out or crying in the bathroom, and I don’t even wanna know what was going on in your closet. 'Seven minutes in heaven' gone wrong?”

“If it makes you feel any better - I bleached the whole place afterwards. Oh come on, nothing wrong with a lil' bump and grind, you can’t judge that!”

“So, you forgot to unlock the closet. And you’re calling me the homosexual one here?”

“You'll always be my little cupcake - momma loves you no matter who you are, Hina-chan. Besides, where is your proof that I cried over it?”

“Oooh, it’s a good thing that you finally asked. I have it on my camera - I've always kept it as a last resort for blackmail material. If you want to, I can upload this on our website. I'm sure our dear listeners won’t mind much.” He could still remember that ‘sleepover’- or that’s apparently how girls called it these days - which was some sort of orgy, tears and vomit included, along with little boys moaning in the background. After Hinata had jumped away from the positively rattling closet, suspicious sounds coming from it and all, somehow got over ‘oh my fucking god are you for real this is priceless’ followed by ‘someone bleach my eyes out and then gouge them out for good measure’, he quickly took a few shots of Nanami with her stone-like face, rivulets of tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I don’t understand,” she had whispered and wiped at her puffy red eyes with her sleeve. "This has a good storyline, why is it so hated?"

It was one of the best nights in his life.

“Disgusting stuff blooms in this country because of people such as you exist, Nanami, just stating the obvious. After you’re done with DI, you should totally replay it, so you can feel the characters better. I can guarantee that it won’t be the same when you’re fully aware of what you’re doing.”

“What kinds of flowers do you prefer on your grave?” she speaks, her voice low. Get a taste of your own medicine, woman!

“Pansies, you know, to remember you by. I'll be able to tell that they're from you.”

There’s a smirk in her voice. “This can be taken in two ways.”

“I prefer the one where you can’t bring yourself to admit who you are. A perverted little girl.”

“Remember who you are, Hinata.”

“Did you just Lion King me?”

“Maybe.”

* * *

 

Their bickering doesn’t last for long because the countdown begins and Hinata actually counts down with them for the premiere. He can almost visualize the crowd jumping with excitement and he feels like he’s one of them. When the countdown hits zero, Nanami lets out a strangled war cry that could put any amazons to shame, and hangs up on him without even saying goodbye.

It’s quiet after that.

Hinata lets his mind wander someplace else and thinks about what he’ll have for dinner tomorrow, when the infinite string of songs ends and he has to turn on that host charm. After 11 pm he doesn’t really get any more callers and talks bullshit in between the short pauses of the songs. It’s boring and not interesting at all, and that Humongous Rack is eyeing him distastefully from the other side of the glass. Hinata gives her a stink eye and she turns away with a deep scowl.

“Guuuys,” whines Hinata, in hopes that his quite boring life will turn just a tad livelier. He sometimes gets calls, but they're usually just Chiaki screaming ‘oh my god did not see that one coming’ or ‘the protagonist is you, you are the protagonist’ before hanging up and adding to his pile of frustration. “I understand that most of you are creaming yourselves to the sounds of tropical murders and detectives speaking, but seriously, entertain me. We still have a long way to go,and since I don’t want to bore you all with an infinite list of video game soundtracks and my own babbling, let’s liven things up a little. I’m feeling kind of generous today and I am daring enough to give out details about my personal life. So let’s play a little game. I shall ask you guys a question, it won’t be too hard, just a random fact, and you’ll have some time to answer it. In return I'll answer three things about myself and you can tell me three facts about yourself. Sounds good? I don’t really think I’ll reel you in like this, but worth a shot. Gaaaaame start.”

Much to his surprise at least three lines light up and Hinata has to rub his eyes to know that he’s not just imagining stuff. He has planned this game with Chiaki so he knows some weird questions, but to actually interest people in that stuff when they had no material rewards was something of a phenomenon.

“Good evening, you’re live on Monomi radio. First question of the night—“

* * *

 

The game keeps on going and he has to search his phone for more random questions for his callers to answer. He doesn’t find anything very impressive so he just asks some random historical or geographical facts that vary from wars to how long a giraffe’s tongue is. The brown-haired man is pretty sure that his listeners now probably know more things about him than most of the people he considers to be close friends. Hinata tells them about stuff like his favorite foods - he adores sweet stuff, curse that Nanami, but god forbid if you place sakuramochi in front of him without giving him three severe nervous breakdowns - he tells that he enjoys calmness, and even lets it slip that he wouldn’t mind to just staying together in absolute silence with his significant other when a curious girl asks him about it. He tells them that he likes good music and does not enjoy traditional stuff all that much, tells them some stuff about his rebel phase, and mentions that he ran away from home with Chiaki - but doesn’t speak too much about the subject even though there are more questions regarding that.

He mentions that he sucks at English and that he wouldn’t have minded learning it better back at school. He’d marry Lana del Rey and kill Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - too much cute isn't good for him. it keeps reminding him of Chiaki and those ganguro girls next door - but he has to admit that her songs are rather cute. His job at the tattoo parlor is by far his longest and the most entertaining one, his most prized possession is his bed and his body pillow - no one must know who is pictured on it - he plays the guitar, but he positively sucks at it, he does not pierce any dicks - "thanks, buddy, but no thanks, I don’t get personal with others' junks, that vagina thing was a lie by the way" - he has a major weak spot for ‘Owl city’, he used to shamelessly listen to Avril Lavigne - again, Chiaki’s influence - and he doesn't want to go on a blind date with some caller who he doesn’t even know.

“If you really want that, then let the Hunger games begin, defeat the others in a quiz battle and then I might say yes.”

No one mentions the fact that his caller is a guy and Hinata that had given him an okay.

It’s not that they consider it to be a joke or anything - it’s more like they already know - but Hinata doesn't think about any of those things, too busy having fun and remembering names of the more interesting callers, some of them already familiar from the previous shows.

He chokes on a piece of candy when he hears Komaeda’s chirpy voice.

“What brings you here?” he asks dumbly and smacks his forehead. Great move.

If it was possible to read ones facial expressions from the emotions in their voice, now would be a good time to assume that Komaeda is pouting. “Ehh? What, I’m not allowed to join your game? That’s not fair. I had a very busy day today and I just got home. Entertain me?” Hinata hears the smile in that voice and it makes his cheeks flush a little.

“Everyone is welcome. Are you sure you can do this?” Hinata teases. “I think of pretty tough questions.”

“I know more weird facts than you could ever think of, it’s not that hard. Bring them out,” he hums happily and Hinata rubs his palms, a wicked grin stretched on his lips. Oh this will be very fun.

“You’re on. On October 11th we celebrate a very special day. It’s international. Can you tell me what the correct name for this day is?”

He can hear Komaeda humming and he visualizes him tapping his lower lip when he finally speaks up. “Oh, I remember! Wasn’t it the National Coming Out day?” he asks slowly, his voice betraying confidence. “That’s a funny fact, how did you come up with it?”

If he felt like he was choking before, now he's choking for real. He grabs for his water bottle and downs more than half of it. There goes his last mint candy. What a waste. The host focuses his gaze on the lines, which were going crazy after Komaeda’s answer. He has to do something about this situation and fast - god forbid if Nanami has her radio turned up while her eyes are glued to the game. He'll never hear the end of this.

…Was the man hinting at something with his answer? Why is it that it always came back to this?

“I-I—Y-You got that wrong! Bzzzt. It’s the International day of the Girl! Guess you lost, no questions for you.”

“What, I don’t get a one more try?”

“One try per person, get in line.”

“But—!” he whimpers into his ear and Hinata has to resist the urge to rip off his headset so that he won’t give in. “Please…? Pretty please, with a cherry on top?”

“Are you a child or a grown man?” Hinata groans and rubs his forehead. He gives out an exasperated sigh. “Okay fine, stop whining. Time keeps ticking by, but keep in mind that I’m only doing this only because of last time. You didn’t have to call us, you know. So let’s go for some facts involving love, I’ll look some up just for you.” Hinata purrs and quickly goes through some random love-related facts. “Oh, this one sounds nice. Alright, so imagine bananas. We have two bananas and then you eat one—“

“Alright, I eat one. Is this a riddle?”

“Shh, no it’s not, listen. Okay, so you eat the two bananas.”

“You said one, not two.”

“I said two, don’t interrupt me or I’ll hang up on you. The question is - for how long can you have sex with someone after eating two bananas. I can make it easier; it's not a full hour, but more than ten minutes.”

“…Okay, this question is a bit weird, because I could keep going and the bananas don’t mean much.”

“Oh yeah, sure you can, lover boy. I'm not asking about your stamina when it comes to sex—“ He so didn't get any weird ideas there, and his cheeks weren’t heating up a little, shut up. “I am asking about how much strength bananas give you. Just pretend that you haven’t eaten in days, there’s a pretty girl before you and you want her, so you eat two bananas to get going. Or you simple ate two bananas but you weren’t in the mood, so how do you burn off the calories?”

“Hinata-kun, your mind is dirty. Are you implying that I should…”

“I-I'm not implying anything!” The host stammers, face red, after he understands just how fucked up his explanation sounds. “Just answer the damn question.”

“I can burn those calories with kissing!” Komaeda beams and Hinata raises an eyebrow, too entertained and actually eager to hear the answer. “Did you know that kissing burns over one hundred calories per hour? So it’s a good solution.”

“So you’d kiss anyone to get rid of them?”

“Maybe not anyone, but I would. Kissing is supposed to make you feel very good. There are lots of ways to burn calories, too?”

“Oh? Please tell us.”

“I bet Hinata-kun doesn't know that when nipples get hard, it burns calories.”

Hinata thinks that if he keeps laughing, the show will be over before he knows it, but he has a hard time keeping up his serious face. “I’ll keep that in mind next time I decide to lose some weight. Screw sports clubs, just pinch the nipples, and pinch them hard if you want some results, you heard what the man said.”

“We can go burn some calories together, Hinata-kun.” The man exclaims happily into his ear and the brown-haired man’s jaw slackens.

“I... Was that an invitation?”

Three long seconds later, there’s a lively ‘yup’ and Hinata has to pinch his forearm in case he’s actually still in his bed and all of this is some sort of weird and far too realistic dream. However he gets his confirmation that this is far from a very homoerotic dream, when Komaeda’s voice reaches his ears, a bit colder than usual. “Just kidding.”

It doesn’t really bring any relief, only awkwardness, because for a minute there he almost got excited. “I…uh, yeah. So, um… I guess you earned your three questions—“

“Six questions.” Komaeda’s voice is back to its usual bright tones. “To answer your question, it takes forty minutes of sexual intercourse to burn those calories. Can I ask you some things now?”

“Oh.” Hinata’s mouth forms into a small ‘o’. Well, he got the forty minute part right and he won these questions fair and square. “Sure. Ask away.”

“Don’t hate me for this, but I'm actually quite curious. I’m very sorry for prying, but…” He’s reluctant and Hinata knows where this is going all too well but he doesn’t mind that much. “What are your preferences when it comes to people you like.”

It’s a rather turnabout way of asking and it can be taken in a lot of ways, but Hinata just sighs and closes his eyes in resignation. “Depends on who I find close to my heart. If our personalities go well together and you’re quite a decent fellow, then there’s a big chance that I might be attracted to you.” His answer is just as shady as the question but from the small ‘oh’ of understanding on the other end of the line, tells him that his caller got the message.

  
Hinata doesn’t really have a certain preference, never has. He loves a person for who they are and not their gender, among many other useless things like their appearance and stuff. Of course it'd be a lie to say that physically beautiful people didn't attract him in the least, but it can only work for so long. They might be grade A dicks and he’d rather not associate himself with people like that. But it’s not like he can go ahead and say that he's a pansexual, live on a radio that had quite a decent following, because,

a) not many people understood the concept of being attracted to one’s personality instead of gender

b) please turn your attention back at a),

It caused him more than enough homophobic-related troubles in the past. He so didn't need any angry callers spewing their hate live on Monomi radio. “What about you? Anything in particular that you look for in your significant other?” Hinata asks, his curiosity piqued. He could ask questions too, it was how his rules worked.

“I… well… I have to think about this.” Komaeda whispers, lost in thought. “I guess I can say that as long as I like you, it's fine. There's no way for me to know what exactly I look for in a person. Honesty is a huge plus, though! Someone nice and caring, someone calm but at the same time fun? I honestly don’t know.”

‘Ah.’ Hinata thought, his chin propped against his palm. ‘So the exact opposite of me.’ He isn’t sure where the hell this thought came from, but he doesn’t feel like brushing it off. “That’s a good answer. And physical appearance-wise? I’d like to know more, you can tell me all about this crush of yours,” he teases. It's a wonder what kind of person that person is. He visualizes someone very small, calm, and doll-like. He used to know this Fujisaki who got along with Chiaki very well and it's easy to imagine someone like that, maybe minus the women clothes. Someone that Komaeda could scoop up in his arms and spin around. Then again, he doesn’t really know how Komaeda looks like.

“Umm, let’s see. I like people with dark hair. I notice them first, and only then the ones with lighter hair colours. It’s like they fade into the background. No offense to any of the listeners,“ he laughs silently and Hinata tries his best to visualize Fujisaki with dark brown hair like his, but it proves to be a hard task. “Actually, I have white hair, so maybe I got sick of light hair because of it—“

“Whoa!” Hinata lets out a breath that he was subconsciously holding in. White hair? Seriously? “Please tell me you’re not some seventy year old man who cracks sexual jokes or I will be shocked into complete speechlessness. “

“I'm 24, so you don’t have to worry.” He sounds a bit disgruntled by the accusation. Cute. “It’s natural, too. “

“Natural? Hard to believe.” Hinata scratches the back of his head. “Like albino white?”

“Yeah, you could say that. My skin burns easily too, except I lack the red eyes, so don’t visualize it as something gross. Though despite my appearance, I'm a bit on the ‘useless no one who mostly stays in the background’ side.

He finds it hard to believe it because there's no way that someone with white hair can blend in with the sea of the usual black and brown with occasional bright, neon-dyed colours. If he walked down the street, Hinata's pretty sure that his gaze'd be stuck on the man quicker than he can say ‘wow’. “Oh, I wouldn’t even dream of thinking of this as gross.”

“Huh? What was that?”

Crap, did he say it out loud? “I mean, I'm a bit shocked... Whatever. I'm curious about your appearance now - have any more details for me?”

“If it helps to spur your imagination, I'm more than willing to tell you everything you need to know.” Komaeda’s voice is barely a whisper, smooth as silk or some other dumb metaphor and wow, is it getting hot in here for the twelfth time that night? The AC must be broken. “Just say a word and I’m yours.”

Okay, now the brown-haired host is pretty sure that his caller's flirting with him. Live. And… he feels the urge to humor him a little. Some flirting won't hurt anyone that much, he's already very daring tonight with this whole personal game going on. Hinata lowers his voice to sound more sensual. Bless the people who had taught him how to do that back in the days when they were still on the road. It took him quite some time to master it, but in the end he had beaten his girlish voice up into a pulp. It helped him escape uncomfortable situations or get his way with the others. _Especially_ get his way with the others. “Do tell. I'm all ears.”

The white-haired guy on the other side swallows heavily and Hinata has to bite the inside of his cheek to stop the wicked smirk from stretching his lips. Bingo. “Usually people don’t ask me to describe myself, so I might not excel at it, but I’ll try. I guess I am pretty tall… 180 cm? I think?” Oh wow, so they were the same height, that one centimeter non-counting. Hinata closes his eyes and tries to visualize the speaker better, the obscure images of his imagination running wild, are those of a very handsome guy. It's almost impossible to visualize him less attractive, maybe it due to that voice working its charms on his spaced-out brain. “My eyes are green. Not the ‘green’ green, but more on the muddy colour side, if I had to compare it to something, then I'd go for swamp.”

“Green eyes? Tall and white-haired… You can’t really be from Japan.” Hinata vaguely hears his voice escaping his mouth, words coming out in an ugly croak. He couldn’t be bothered to open his eyes, his imagination is so much better than the dusty sound booth.

“I am not fully Japanese if that’s what you mean. My mother is from Sweden. I’ve gone there once, it wasn’t what I expected it to be, and due to some certain… circumstances, I had to leave two days later so I didn’t get to see much.” Komaeda’s voice takes a turn for emotionless, the smooth sound tinged with sadness. Whatever had happened must've been rough, and flying half across the world only to leave two days later? Not cool. Tickets cost a fortune and a half here, is the guy drowning in money? He did say that he travels a lot, so Hinata shouldn’t be so surprised. “Originally, I’m from Kyoto.”

“From Kyoto? You?” The brunet laughs incredulously. “I can’t hear any Kyoto dialect from you.” It’s true, they’ve been to Kyoto a few times back when they were 19 because Nanami just _had had had had_ to see it and Hinata would’ve been lying if he said that he didn’t want to go there himself. His family was average - their income usually spent on their kids' studies, which he threw right back into his parents' faces. Their family never really left their hometown - most of Hinata’s summers were spent in the park with Nanami by his side. He sometimes wonders if they miss him. Probably not. He was always a disappointment compared to his sibling. Chiaki was his true family, more so than his own, anyways. She had dragged him around the place to see the Kyoto tower at least two times, they've never missed a Gion Matsuri once, and Hinata always thought that the people of Kyoto spoke funny. He just couldn’t put his finger around it.

“Last time I’ve been to Kyoto for longer than a week was when I was in high school, so it’s expected? I can’t really hear any dialects in your voice too, you know.” He can almost hear the smile in the white-haired man’s voice, and he takes it as a subtle challenge. Hinata is thankful because he needed the distraction.

“I guess it’s because for the last 4 years or so I’ve been going to many different places, so I forgot how to dialect properly? Is that even a thing? Anyways, Nanami and I are originally from Shibuya, Yoyogi to be exact. It was boring and pressuring, so we said goodbye to it and began our journey that should be written down someday. We spent most of our time on the road, but if I had to pick a place where we had stayed the longest it'd be Shinjuku, Kabukichō. I take it that you know why it‘s famous, and all I can say is that I regret staying there for longer than necessary, but it was either that or Nichō. We stayed there too, 4 out of 10, wouldn’t repeat again. It’s not fun when at least eight guys in the span of an hour come up to you and ask you how much you take for the night. I decked like five because they were borderline annoying and not polite at all - like what the shit, maybe I'm a tender flower, how dare you talk to me like that, assholes!? Nanami had the time of her life and she thought that it was very funny when I saw a cute girl but it was actually a guy. Not sure how the hell I managed to look surprised. It fucked Nanami up irreversibly, I no longer wear wife beaters with suggestive words, but we had a decent time.”

“You’ve been through so much, it’s actually quite amazing. I’d love to hear more!” Komaeda chirps joyfully. “Actually, I had a friend from Shinjuku and I stayed at his place when we were 17 or so. He thought it would be fun to go some sightseeing. We somehow ended up in Nichō and I got lost…”

Hinata can’t stop the raucous laughter that escapes him. Laughing at ones misery isn’t funny, but this is too good. That must've been traumatizing as hell. “How is that even possible? What did you do?”

“At first I was very confused because I didn’t get why there were so many same sex couples there. I tried calling my friend, but then my battery died and I was stuck.”

“That’s unfortunate. You must have the worst luck ever.”

“…I don’t know about bad luck, all I remember is that I ended up getting roped into some sort of play and there were lots of leather maid uniforms and glitter involved.”

“…D-did you… haha… get out of there safely?”

“I somehow managed to run into my friend and I don’t really remember what happened after that. My clothes were gone and everyone looked at me funny at the metro.”

“I hope you weren’t going around naked?”

“I probably should have because in the words of my good friend I “looked like a tampon dipped in rainbow color dye and then glitter”. I didn’t really comprehend it until three days later when I finally got out of my shock.” His voice reminds the brown-haired host of those old movies where men get drunk and talk about their pasts to bartenders who weren’t really listening. They'd sit at the bar, feet propped against the metal of the barstool, a glass of whiskey or whatever else was available in one hand, and gaze focused on the bar top. This is the exact visual that his brain manages to perceive when he hears those words spilling from his caller’s mouth.

It makes his laughter grow worse. So much that he has to wipe at the tears that had sprung out.

“Man, this must be one of the most entertaining stories I’ve heard about that place. I clap for you, you’ve won the prize for the most despair-inducing story in the history of mankind.”

“And what would the prize be?” Komaeda’s voice takes a 180 again in the way that only it can, from the child who sounded grumpy because his wishes weren’t granted to that sexual bedroom voice that should strictly be used only in bedrooms. Hinata’s bedroom. Bonus points if it's breathier. Shit. That's a sudden change of mood.

“Oh, I don’t know… what would you like?” It'd be a shame if he doesn't try and match up to the man. Hinata can’t help but notice every chance and take them.

“Well, since I'm pretty sure that Hinata-kun has asked me more than six questions, I’d like to ask you some… things.” The white-haired man obviously catches wind as to what’s going on. He wins in the seductive voice-off competition finals fair and square, and from the way he says that sentence he might as well be saying ‘you can, oh I don’t know, get on your knees and introduce your mouth to my dick’. The funny thing is that jokingly or not, the brunet would say ‘yes sir, right away.’

He may or may not be aware of that playfulness disappearing and turning into a real thing, but then again, it might just be his inner Chiaki saying that he has somehow forgotten to say ‘no homo’. It's like a mode of sorts, whenever he thinks about that stuff, he’s automatically cursing his pink-haired friend and their stay at the world’s most popular gay district that was supposed to ‘open up his senses’, or something equally dumb as that.

“You can always ask me… things without hesitating, my dear rainbow tampon dipped in glitter. “

“That was decidedly not funny, dear.”

“But I think it's pretty accurate, dearest. I try to get my facts straight and tell them how they are.” Hinata teases and hides his smile behind a palm. His phone vibrates somewhere on the table, but he ignores it. It’s probably just Chiaki with her tropical murders and spoilers.

“I’d say that those facts are a little bended at the edges, hm?” Komaeda drawls out playfully and Hinata feels his cheeks reddening. Of course, double-meanings. He should be careful around this guy. But it no longer matters. The two of them haven’t even noticed how they've passed their six questions-only barrier, engaging in a chat that varies from many different subjects. Hinata tries to explain his appearance which is a bit hard to do.

“No, it’s like… this dirty brown colour - I absolutely refuse to call it chocolate, calling hair by sweets is weird, I've had enough of ‘cotton candy’ and ‘lollipop’ in my life. Um, my eyes are weird, I can never tell the exact colours? It’s like this honeyish brownish greenish… something. The only thing that sticks out? My hair probably. Not sure how it’s possible. I'm on the skinny side I guess - don’t have that much muscle, but I try… I have a weakness for sweets so I’d much rather go to ‘Three clovers’ than a sports club. I had lots of piercings in the past but now there’s only one. Hm? Right eyebrow, of course, because I like to waggle my left one? It’s a weird habit, I know. I'm most definitely doing a bad job at this, am I not?” Hinata sighs after at least ten minutes of incessant chatting. He's lost the track of time completely, but it’s not like he really has any time limits as to how long he can talk with one caller, and surprisingly, no one else is waiting on the line which is totally weird but not completely unexpected.

“…I don’t want to sound weird or anything—“ The white-haired man sounds as though he's having a hard time gathering his thoughts and Hinata wonders if he had sounded the same when Komaeda told him about his own appearance, too focused on mental images to speak properly.

“A bit late for that.”

“You sound very handsome.”

Hinata gapes at nothing in particular, jaw slack. “I… what?”

“I meant that as a compliment.”

“Yeah… I figured…? Anyways, me? Seriously? No way. I just described myself in the shittiest and shallowest way possible, and you say that? For all you know I could be some drooling potato. “

“I think that I've talked to you enough to confirm that you’re not a drooling vegetable, Hinata-kun. Well, it’s not like we’ve seen each other before, so I'm free to come up with my own images after combining your descriptions. Actually, you sound a lot like my type.”

The brunet swallows heavily. “Am I supposed to take that as another compliment…?”

“Take it as you wish.” Komaeda exhales through his nose and the shaky noise sends a shiver down his spine, his skin prickling. “I think that you should finish up for the night. It’s almost midnight.”

“E-Eh?” The host blinks owlishly and checks his phone with at least eighteen missed calls from Chiaki and ten messages, most of them also of hers. Humongous Rack is rapping her long nails against the glass, almost hard enough to crack it with those atrocious monstrosities, but Hinata hadn’t seen her until Komaeda somehow snapped him out of… whatever the hell he was in. “Oh, damn, for real! I have to finish up here. Shit, sorry, everyone, I didn’t really look at the time. Bye, Komaeda, I have to go now before I get my body full of nail-shaped holes. Thanks for the chat. It livened up my evening, seriously.” The brunet stifles a curse when his water bottle tips on the table but there’s not enough water to splash the surface for which he’s thankful.

“Likewise. It’s always a pleasure to chat with you. Have a nice night.”

He hangs up before Hinata can say anything else and his show ends just like that. He rips off the headset, scrambles to stuff his leftover snacks into his bag and bolts out of the small room, not bothering to say goodbye to Humongous Rack, who's eyeing him distastefully like always. He thunders down to the first floor, taking two stairs at the same time and dials Chiaki. The phone doesn’t have a second chance to beep before she picks up and actually sounds focused on the call and not the game for once.

“Heeeey, lover boy. That was a lovely show you've hosted. I could feel the love all the way here.”

Hinata grips his phone just a bit tighter and feigns ignorance. “I am not sure what you’re on about. Have you been drinking again?”

“Nah, but I might get around to it if you stop by at a convenience store and get some. Trust me, you’ll need it with all this mindfuck going on. “

“Alright then, I’ll get some beers.”

“Aw, thank you, I knew that I could count on you. Get the usual, though. Also, as I was saying, your show is off the freaking charts tonight. I mean it started out pretty cool but when it got the homoerotic subtext, it got even better - just take a look at the web, man. The fans are freaking out about it, I'm pretty sure there'll be fan pages for you and Komaeda in a day or two.”

Hinata stops, the sounds of the city so loud that he can barely hear his shallow breathing. The air is hot and humid, barely fit to breathe properly. He can only hope that Chiaki has fixed her air conditioner. “What are you on about? Did you do something?” he asks. It never hurts to be cautious whenever his friends are involved.

“No, it was all them. Like yeah, I had a passing thought or two, or maybe ten, that I should do something to get this thing started - hey now, don’t huff like that, those were just private thoughts - but some fangirls beat me to it. Wonder why you didn’t get any calls after your little chat with the handsome white-haired, green-eyed, half-European boy had started?”

Now he knows for sure that his intuition wasn’t just playing tricks on him because of the whole homoerotic vibe, or so Chiaki had calls it. It certainly made him wonder. “Go on.”

“What I’m saying is that you should catch some Wi-Fi and go to our official page. Click on today’s show and go to the comments section. Try not to be too frustrated with our listeners; it’s good marketing,“ his friend sounds dazed again and the sounds of something exploding can be heard on the other side. Chiaki had obviously started up the game again. “…I think… You guys are a lovely duo. Seriously... I mean it. And don’t deny it, you like him. Probably a lot more than you should.”

Hinata feels his heart fluttering and his palms sweat. “I’ll be there in a few,” he says and hangs up, not waiting for a reply.

Okay, so maybe she's right. He feels like he connects with Komaeda on some level and his personality is decent. He likes it.

A lot.

Their fans obviously like the man a lot, too. And no, let him rephrase that - they like the idea of him and Komaeda… doing things. There are at least 300 comments, most of their content the same. It's too embarrassing to translate the fangirl language out loud, so Hinata just skims the messages, his face flushed deep maroon. Oh, just kill him already. Maybe he should stop flirting.

When he reaches the woman’s house, she moves to the side as if to make him some room on the god damned floor, her back resting against the couch. There’s a pile of junk food between them, most of it of pink variety. Hinata takes out some light beer  - “Sweet! You got my favorite!” - and Chiaki pauses the game. She pads to her room and brings something. The brunet knows all too well what that is.

“What did I tell you about being an insufferable pothead?”

“Um something about it being bad for my health?” She downright ignores him, face stone-like. “Oh come on, don’t be a party pooper. Last time we did this was last winter, and this is a great occasion.” She waves towards her TV screen, the game put on a pause. “I just want you relaxed, because right now the tension is so thick I could cut it with a knife. And, you. Don’t look like you're constipated. Don’t do that thinking face, this is exactly why no one ever approaches you. “

It makes his eyebrow twitch. “Fine, if you wanna end up in rehab, don’t cry when I don’t visit you. Give it to me.” He takes the joint from the woman’s fingers and lights it. It takes one inhale and he already feels his brain shutting down.

The two of them spend the night immersed in tropical murders and higher than they originally intended. Sometime past 4 am, their attention is no longer on the game and Hinata asks the woman with bloodshot eyes just why the hell the blood's neon pink.

“It’s red, you twerp, you’re just high.”

“No no, you don’t understand, it’s fucking neon pink. Magenta. Oh… oh my god did they murder Souda? Souda! Shit, I gotta call him and bring flowers to the funeral. Why are we here?”

“It think it's time to hit the bed. Come on. “ she turns off the TV and throws the man on her couch that resembles a mountain Everest made of pillows. The woman grabs a warm quilt, making sure it's as girliest one around, and tucks in the struggling man, who snores and drools all over the fluffy pillows before she can move her arms away. He mumbles something that sounds suspiciously close to ‘Komaeda’ and with a tired sigh Chiaki pets the chocolate brown strands.

“Sweet dreams,” she yawns and goes to her own room.

The next morning she regrets letting the man anywhere near her couch. Without a proper good morning, Chiaki kicks him off of her beloved pillow mountain and manhandles the sleepy brown-haired man into a shower, making sure to turn it as cold as it can get without breaking the handle. She stands on the other side of the door and not so subtly threatens to cut off his junk if he gets his crotch anywhere near her Totoro pillow ever again, high or not. The loud crash signals her that the man obviously wasn’t listening to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, guys. The third chapter. One more left ~ I also would like to thank the flawless Internet for that banana fact. Whenever I eat bananas I think about it and then I choke a little.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies. Your Santa is here to bring you the last part of this fic. Thank you for sticking with me. I wish you all merry holidays !  
> The last chapter is posted a little earlier because I am stuck at my grandparent's house and my cousins will come over aka I won't get to use the laptop because they tend to hog it to themselves.  
> If you want you can share your own experiences! Tell me about yourselves, maybe you had some funny misadventures like Chiaki and Hinata? I'd love to hear all of them ~

**July 5th, 10:50 pm**

**Studies and jobs**

 

“Remember the good ol’ college times when everyone would show up with these ugly-ass sweaters and holed socks at your dorm room at 1 am, begging you to give them some coffee because they were broke and finals were coming up? Oh man, those were some great times.”

“Times which we've never experienced.”

“But if we had then we would've been those people for sure.“

“We would've been the ones to steal your food and play loud music. Good thing we suck at studying, isn’t that right? I mean I don’t really, but you on the other hand…” Chiaki trails off, her gaze focused on the papers before her.

“Who is trying to get a degree?”

“Who is a professional programmer with a decent income who also makes sure that your fat ass doesn’t turn bony?”

“That’s not even an actual job. I, on the other hand, work, while you surf your porn sites and get off to Hello Kitty fan art.”

“You pierce vaginas for a living, Hinata. I’d rather play the keyboard.”

“Hey!”

“And today’s topic is jobs. Yes you heard that right, listeners. You just got back home after a frustrating day filled with work and/or lectures, and here we are talking about jobs. But we're not here to make you feel guilty and say that you should be preparing for exams or something - even though if that's the case, then you should seriously be doing that, if you've procrastinated on some stuff, take this opportunity to do your job properly. Hinata and I've had this topic planned out for a while now, because we wanted to see if anyone in the audience could actually top the weirdness level of our own jobs and tell us if they've been kicked out faster than us. My record is four days. I've worked in a candy shop and got busted eating the stock. Do I regret it…? A little. It was heaven on earth. So what's your record, Hinata?”

“Three days.”

“…Seriously,” Chiaki stares at him, one eyebrow raised. She’s curious now. “…I thought that it was that week at the bookstore when you've managed to accidentally tip over a shelf and cause World War III.”

“It wasn't my fault that they couldn’t get a decent ladder that didn't wobble like a card house. They told me to put on a price tags, I tried to put on a price tags. That wasn't my fault.”

“You did get all of the blame instead of mean wittle ladder that threw you off just like that. How mean! I guess you looked more suspicious in that book pile. “

“You quit four days later.”

“Huh… guess I did. It wasn’t very fun without you there… Anyways, tell us the story. There were more jobs from which you've managed to get kicked out from and I don’t know about them?”

“You know about this one, I just didn’t tell you that I got kicked out right away. Remember that café ‘Blue garden’?”

“Oh yes, how could I forget about that one? I mean, I'll always remember those guys.”

“So yeah I actually may or may not have started a fight ten minutes later. Let me start from the beginning. So anyways, I applied to work as a waiter in that place. I was 16 at the time, still living with my parents and all, but the guy who had owned the café was a family friend so I got in rather easily. So the first day was kinda good, right, some girls had showed me how everything worked and all, it was a bit tiresome but for a part-time it was very fun. Then these three douchebags from our high school came over there and then asked for my milkshakes - _sunny flavor,_ which is a horrible pun by the way - and I was like ‘this is a fucking café that strictly sells pastries and coffee, I ain’t got no milkshakes’. And then they laughed like a bunch of retards and insisted that I do, so I politely flipped them off."

"Then they came over the next day and there were like twice as many of them - I dunno, maybe there was a secret factory where they used to multiply apes located in our neighborhood, not sure - and they asked for the same thing and I kept ignoring them and all, but the cashier was staring at me all nasty so I had to be polite. They stayed there the entire day and I couldn’t kick them out or anything - I remember this, though, they kept laughing at me for some unknown reason and my temper was _flaring_. So I'm kind of shit at English and all that, you know, and when those guys started playing some song, I couldn't understand shit, but I still made out that it was about milkshakes and boys or something like that. I instantly asked Chiaki 'what the fuck they're on about' the moment she came over to grab a bite. She heard the song and then told me what the lyrics meant. I flipped out, she ditched me - thank you for that, by the way - anyways, when they began playing that song that goes like ‘my milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard’ once again, I finally snapped, said something like ‘milkshake this’ and kicked their asses. I was all bruised and the manager just flipped their shit and kicked me out in a heartbeat - not only that, my parents found out about it. Do you have any idea how many lectures about the 'importance of respect' I had to sit through? It was a pain.”

“You seriously kicked around your fanclub? And there I was wondering why they weren’t preying on you anymore…” Chiaki trails off and tugs at her lip piercing.

“Wait what? You knew that they were creepy stalkers and didn’t say anything!?”

“Not really. I just noticed that they were always looking at you all funny whenever you walked by. Must be the douchebag charm. Attracts its own kind and all. Or maybe it was because you were a true flower back in high school. All dainty and delicate in that oversized blazer of yours.”

“You were no better.”

“I'm a very cute girl, Hinata. I guess I do somewhat understand the proper uniform use because no one wanted Ishimaru on their ass until the very end of the classes. He just followed you around until you fixed your appearance.”

“Speaking of jobs and Ishimaru, didn’t that kid achieve a lot? He’s climbing the ladder of politics and he’s still young, who knows… Give it a few years and he might become the prime minister or something.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine that. Imagine Japan, all neat and tidy… don’t run in the streets, all day, every day. But yeah, it seems likely.”

“And there you have it, dear listeners. People can achieve a lot if they try hard enough or they simply end up like us, losing jobs two-days in. Look at Nanami, she’s just sitting here not doing much of anything but picking her nose and she actually gets paid…”

“I still find it very hard to believe that somehow you haven’t lost your job at the tattoo parlor yet. I'd understand if you were like Souda. How many customers do you get in a day?”

“More than you get while playing 'Call of Duty' among many other things. “

“I know that I'm probably your only customer in the span of two years that you’ve been working there, but don’t be too dejected. I'm sure someone will drop by. But your job is kinda fun, I guess. At least watching Souda work. A lot of different people must come by.”

Hinata thinks back to his work. They aren’t settled in a too obvious place, a bit farther away from the busy streets and neon lights, but the place is well-known. It just happens that Souda makes appointments whereas Hinata takes up anyone - which is really weird, but then again Souda's skill has always been so much greater. Hinata likes his work. It’s not too intense, except for the days when doe-eyed girls want piercings but make it sound like it's the end of the world. It’s not like he’s a sadist and he doesn’t really enjoy hurting them, but these decisions are theirs so he doesn’t waste any breath trying to calm them down. It’s really weird when old people come inside to get even more tattoos and Hinata usually wonders just how the hell they fit in this uptight society. But if they want a god damned piece of metal in their nose - sometimes the brunet catches glimpses of guns poking out in obvious places just a little - then Hinata is sure as hell gonna pierce it, no questions asked.

The brown-haired host zones out and he barely hears Chiaki talking away into her mic, her face emotionless as usual, and he barely catches bits and pieces of something regarding tattoos. Probably still on about his job. Music plays and when the last chords of a song drift away into silence, three lines light up. Chiaki nods her head at him, indicating that he should be the one to pick out the caller this time and he just selects a random one.

“I know that you like me a lot and all, but I'm a bit surprised that I somehow managed to get through to you on the first try.”

Lo’ and behold, who else could it be, but the handsome faceless stranger from his ‘innocent’ dreams which involved Chiaki kicking his ass off of her couch later on. It was a torment for his soul and other parts which shouldn’t be mentioned.

Nanami grins like she's won a lottery and her laptop produces dull popping sounds which Hinata recognizes to be new message alerts. On their webpage. Oh god.

“Good evening, you’re live on Monomi radio, yadda yadda, you know the drill. It’s been a while. What can you tell us today?”

“Actually, Nanami-san, the question would be for Hinata, if you don’t mind,” he says, overly-polite, and Nanami just smirks. It’s a damn smirk even though it is barely there.

“Figures. Go ahead, knock us dead. Or bring Hinata back from the dead, he keeps spacing out today.”

The brunet stifles a groan and lifts his head from the cool surface of the table. “Hey. I thought that after last time there's no more stuff left to be asked, but I guess I'm proven wrong yet again. What is it?”

“I actually thought that I could share some of my unlucky job stories, but first, I need to ask you something… Then again, maybe Nanami-san has some knowledge too when it comes to this stuff. You work at a tattoo parlor, right? You’ve probably seen more than enough so you can help me out. A friend of mine is planning to get a tattoo, but is deathly afraid of the pain that the needles might cause him. Which part of the body would be the least sensitive to tattoo?”

Hinata scratches at the back of his head, thinking about the answer. “Well, I can’t really help that friend of yours to get over their fear and all I gotta say is that everywhere is gonna be extra sensitive if you think too much about it. You just have to relax. And if we're speaking 'bout tattoos… Nanami has more than I do.”

The girl sends him a look that screams ‘are you really this stupid or are you just pretending’ and rolls her eyes. “Komaeda, if you want a sexy tatt, all you gotta do is ask and we can tell you where to go.”

“As I said, it’s not for me.”

“Alright, tell _your friend_ then that, in my opinion, every place where the skin is thicker is good enough. I have sick tiny stars on my forearm and as much as I don't enjoy needles, getting them wasn't too bad - I just didn’t think about it too much. There’s a swirl on my hip and I have one on my ankle. Hinata had one on the small of his back which was my all-time favorite, but he got that removed. He starved himself for months to scrape up enough money for that removal surgery.”

“I am never _ever_ getting drunk with you ever again. _Ever._ ”

“What happened?” Komaeda asks, curiosity lacing his voice.

Hinata sighs. “Oh well, a little this and that. Make sure that your friend is in his right mind when he gives  _consent_  and make sure that he doesn’t have drunken people cheering him on from the sidelines and saying _‘yes, do it, it’s perfect’_.”

“We weren’t in our right minds at the time. First months of freedom.”

“That was a dark time. It must never be named.”

“Like the ‘ready for service 24/7’ tattoo with an arrow pointing to your ass? “

“Like the murder that's about to happen in a few seconds, if you don’t shut your whore mouth,” Hinata growls and attempts to kick Nanami’s leg but she sees his intentions clearly and moves away her black thigh-high, pink Chucks' covered feet.

“Easy there. You must've forgotten that I had jumped off a building and passed out in the bushes. I could've died, you know, but you just laughed your ass off with your shiny new tattoo.”

“I would've paid the devil to take your soul back then.”

“You were a complete hobo at the time and you have no soul to make a deal with, so too bad for you, asshole.”

“It’s more like he doesn’t need hell to turn into shit after you go there. It’s like taking BunBun’s soul into rabbit heaven or whatever it is that people come up with these days. He would shit on every corner.”

“Um, g-guys,” their caller stutters out nervously in some lame-ass attempt to pacify the duo that's getting too personal.

“What?” the two of them deadpan at the same time.

“You shouldn’t fight like that… Sorry for being so curious…?” it’s obvious that he doesn’t know if he should be sorry or not and Hinata gives up. Nanami looks at him with a triumphant expression, like he’s been declared her bitch or something.

“Nah, it’s fine. Just ignore the wench over here. She’s just mad coz she can’t get laid.”

“You, on the other hand, don’t have any problems with that, do you? My poor pillow is violated; I think washing it wasn’t enough. I should burn it too.”

Okay, the whole wet dream thing is totally not his fault; he's just had too much flirting for one day. It’s not like he can control a physiological reaction. If he could've woken up, he would have gladly done so. It's just his luck that Nanami’s god awful Totoro pillow was nearby, and in his sleep he had wrapped his legs around it. It’s not like he intended to get all close and personal with it.

That's Nanami’s thing more.

“Ignore. The. Witch.” Hinata spews out like it’s something bitter, turns to the cocky woman and mouths ‘I’ll burn you later’. She looks at him all unimpressed and not frightened at all. “Pay attention only to the fact that thick skin makes it better to handle the needles. And as for my tattoos, I’ve got two. One of them is on my shin.”

There’s an uncomfortable silence in which neither of them talks, Nanami is trying her best to control her disgusting grin, Hinata hesitating and Komaeda obviously reluctant, but the interest soon wins over the doubts. “And the second one…?”

“You gotta earn your right to see that one," Hinata doesn’t notice his voice dropping and Nanami starts typing away on her laptop at the speed of light, but he barely notices. It can’t be anything good.

“Are there any special requirements to get a VIP access?“ the white-haired man’s voice is a purr against his ears - oh boy, it’s like that dream all over again.

“We can arrange that.”

Crap, that tension from five days ago settles between them and for some reason it’s heavier than before, hot and uncomfortable in plenty of ways. It’s disturbed by Nanami’s annoying voice which grates against Hinata’s nerves in all of the wrong ways. “Okay, you two love birds, we’re live here. Get a room for your man-off. We have weird jobs to analyze, so instead of preying on our virgin Hinata-kun, please share some of your best experiences with us, Komaeda.”

“R-Right away!” the mentioned man stutters and the tension in his voice is almost tangible. Nanami has that affect on people when she uses ‘the voice’ and she does know when and how to use it. Well, at least her cockblocking pays off. They somehow ease into a comfortable conversation that doesn’t fail to make the two hosts laugh.

“And then— _pfttt_ you set the whole thing on fire?”

“I was pushed, it’s not like I would do it on purpose! That’s dangerous!”

“And the cake?”

“Oh, the cake was the best part. It landed on that lady’s face, someone took a photo, and the next day it was all over the press. I was kicked out, but the entertainment was worth it. It’s not like I earned that much in that place. I didn’t get blamed for anything, so that’s good.”

“How does stuff like this even happen to you?” Hinata wheezes and wipes at the liquid that gathers on his eyelashes.

“I don’t even know. It’s one of the world's great mysteries,” Komaeda snickers softly.

“I wouldn’t mind solving it one day,” the male host says tenderly, not really thinking about the meaning behind his words and brushes off some dust from his sweatshirt.

“You can if you’d like,” the man says and their conversation ends on a good note that makes Hinata forget his blood-thirst due to Nanami telling the embarrassing story of his tattoo.

Chiaki thinks that Komaeda might be a good change, after all.

The fans agree.

On the other hand Hinata can’t believe his own ears - no scratch that, he can’t believe Nanami when he hears her playing ‘Careless whisper’.

* * *

 

**July 10th, 10:54 pm**

**Fashion**

 

 

“I still don’t understand why there's a law that makes us wear pants.”

“Get naked, everybody, show the gifts that the God has blessed you with.”

“I mean yeah, you’re a girl thus it's socially acceptable for you to flaunt your skirts - do you realize how awesome it is that you can wear them and shorts all the time? I, on the other hand, have my junk squished all day and I can’t even take off my pants in my own fucking apartment, because Koizumi may or may not come over and you do not want to open the door with just your boxers on.”

“Wow, I actually feel bad for you. Ever considered cross-dressing?”

“Burn.”

“Annnd you just hurt some of our listeners, I bet. Shame on you. Speaking of restricting clothes… I know the pain. I have to put on shorts whenever someone comes over. Also, do you know how bad it sucks when some pervert or the wind flips your skirt? As nice as the breeze is, it’s not nice to flash people, but the whole concept of flashing is just dumb. Skirts are nice and comfortable, but they’re inconvenient. Why can’t I just walk with my panties on, society?”

“Nobody wants to see your thong.”

“Oh lay off, just because I own a pair doesn’t mean anything.”

“There’s more than a pair.”

“And how would you know that? Did you go through my panty drawer when I wasn’t looking?”

“…”

“Oh my effin’ god, you disgusting pervert. I'm calling the police right now, the people have heard your confession, you may stay silent till the end of time or I’m using this against you in the courtroom.”

“Nana—“

“Don’t speak or I will kick you and mace you, pervert.”

“For the love of—I didn’t say ‘yes’.”

“You didn’t say ‘no’ either.”

“Maybe it’s because I don’t want to talk about things that involve your gross panty drawer. Ever thought about that? Maybe it offends me that—“

“Until Hinata stops ranting, I give you some ‘Arctic Monkeys’ and ‘Why’d you only call me when you’re high!?’ which may or may not be our theme song from the good old days.”

* * *

 

“Wait, so how did this turn into our experiences in Akihabara?” Hinata asks, still disgruntled. Their evening is filled with fashionista calls and it almost turns into a war field when girls begin arguing over _miniskirts_ , a thing which Nanami may or may not have started when she called them ‘gross’. She was being less than subtle about it too.

“Nobody wants to see your ass cheeks. If I wanted that, I'd go to the red light district.”

The fight somehow turns to Hinata, but the man has no opinion whatsoever.

“Of course you wouldn’t, cupcake. It’s not in your attention span to look at girls.”

Nanami actually gets pissed as the show progresses and Hinata has to enlist a time limit for each caller who has anything to say on the topic. It works, but not as well as he wants to. Then he tries to get Nanami’s mind off things, which she accepts all too willingly. It somehow turns into a chat about their time wandering down the streets of Harajuku (“I swear to god, that Ludenberg chick was Harajuku trash. I wonder how many cocks she sucked for those hair extensions.” “You only hate her because she beat you at every card game ever.” “Shut up.”) and then somehow they start speaking about weird stuff they've seen during their travels, which somehow ends up in a discussion involving the ever-popular maid outfits.

“It ended in the same way as all of our conversations do, through insults. Can someone please tell me why maid outfits are considered so attractive? It’s a black dress with a frilly apron; I do not see the proverbial hotness in that. They should work at funeral parlors and not the streets,” Chiaki fumes and Hinata regrets ever agreeing to pick ‘fashion’ as an appropriate topic. He's almost forgotten that despite her punkish appearance, Chiaki is a fashion enthusiast, unlike him. This conversation could have gone smoothly for only so long, he was just glad that none of this had ended in tears.

“I am not sure about you, but I think they’re cute,” says Hinata and thinks about all of the pretty girls that they've seen in Akihabara.

“Hinata, those were sluts. Sluts. I understand when women wear heels like that for cosplay reasons and all, but that was just _not_ appropriate.”

“But you gotta cut them some slack, it must be difficult standing on those shoes all day and handing out flyers.”

“Dude, we live in Japan. If you haven't seen my mother hiking up the mountain in stilettos and two heavy grocery bags in her hands, then you have not lived yet.”

“I am somehow glad that I've missed that part. Anyways, why do you think it’s bad? I mean, we were out manga hunting, it’s like they added to the atmosphere.”

“More like added to your inappropriate boner for maid dresses.”

Hinata vaguely considers forcing Nanami to play another song before she causes even more trouble for them with her shitty opinions, but there are callers and he has to hear them rant. It’s not like he can leave them hanging just because he feels like it. He kind of blocks out the noise of Nanami droning on and arguing with their callers and he can visualize all of the hate mail they are going to get when he hears Komaeda’s voice.

Of course, how could he forget.

“I don’t see anything bad with that, Nanami-san they’re just doing their part. Besides, the outfits are comfortable.”

Before Hinata can say ‘hello’ the words die down in the back of his throat and even Nanami is shocked into speechlessness.

“…Come again?”

“I don’t think that I should be speaking about this! It’s embarrassing!”

“Oh no no no, that’s alright, we _love_ embarrassing. Lay it on us,” Nanami grins wickedly and Hinata feels like his soul is somewhere on the other side of the sound booth, but his ears are almost moving to catch all of the words.

“When I was in my last year of high school, our class was selected to build a play. The twist was that we all picked out a character without being informed whether it’s a boy or a girl. The ‘prince’ was actually a girl and many of my classmates got the wrong gender character, they thought it would be funny but excuse me for not laughing. It was my turn to pick; they blindfolded me and told me to point at something. It just happened that my picked character was a maid,” his voice is barely a whisper now.

“They forced you into the dress, didn’t they?” Nanami whistles, impressed.

“I… yeah. But it wasn’t as horrible and degrading as I thought it'd be. Actually, the whole maid thing was quite a hit, so our theme for one of the last festivals before graduation was ‘Maid café’. Needless to say, we got the first place, but our class president had mentioned that they couldn’t have done it without me? It’s really embarrassing…”

“So it ended up good in the very end. Your class still managed to win the first place. On the other hand, when we had school festivals our class always placed second. Our juniors were always better at plays. I think Hinata here can understand your cross-dressing on stage pain.”

Hinata blinks owlishly. “Oh? Yeah. We had to do a play that involved fairy tales and we picked Cinderella. Our stepmother got sick at the last minute and I knew her lines because I helped her memorize them. I was dumb and I confessed that I knew them and then they had roped me into their play. Then again, if I hadn’t stepped up our class wouldn’t have been able to participate and we took the competition _seriously_. I'm pretty sure that we sucked because Nanami was a shitty Cinderella.”

“I was not.”

“You fell asleep on stage during the kiss scene. We had to wing it and pretend that you were so in love with the prince that you had fainted.”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

“You shouldn’t have stayed up so late playing video games.”

“You stayed up with me, that’s what made you the perfect stepmother. Angry and cruel.”

“Were you wearing a dress or did they change your character too?" Komaeda interferes.

“Nah dude, a fucking middle ages dress with some dumb headpiece. They even put a wig on me. A wig. Who the hell even does that?”

“…That sounds rather… unfortunate, yeah. It probably sucked. I now have regained some faith that maybe the maid dress thing wasn’t so bad compared to yours. I'm forever grateful, so much that I'd give you a kiss on the cheek.”

The white-haired man’s tone is playful and Hinata feels his cheeks reddening. Chiaki’s knowing look confirms it.

“O-oh stuff it!”

“No flirting,” Nanami coos and the show goes on.

* * *

 

**July 15th, 11:20pm**

**Embarrassing school stories**

 

 

“It had to be that one time when I accidentally set the teacher’s hair on fire and the fire alarm went off. I will never forget everyone freaking out as though someone dead was found in the hallway. Ishimaru was downright ready to throw the students on the ground and order them to roll around, but then I got suspended and it wasn’t cool. I'm still not sure how the hell I was the only one who got into trouble when Nanami was the one who had face planted on the desk and smacked against my elbow.”

“That’s because I was asleep. Why would you blame a sleeping person?”

“That’s exactly what all of the people who had burned alive in the fire while asleep would say if they weren’t, oh I don’t know, dead maybe?”

“No, you guys have nothing on mine.”

“We’re listening, our favorite caller.”

“My school’s headmaster had walked in on me giving head to this guy from my P.E. class. I dunno what happened after that, but it was hilarious. I got off with some sexual education bullshit like ‘oh my gosh you’re not supposed to do that, shame on you’ _pfft_. It was a very inconvenient way to come out. For that guy. Not for me. He was a total jock, I'm pretty sure he lost all of his friends after that.”

“Alright… I think we gotta admit defeat, Hinata. Huh…? Hinata? Earth to Hinata!”

“…Komaeda, are you feeling alright?”

“Never better, haha. You know what’s funny though?”

“What?”

“I’d probably do it again. To the one I've come to love the most. Just because some… some old fart lectures me, doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t…? Oh right, I have to ask you something! Hinata-kun I—“ there’s a loud bang and the line goes dead.

“He was drunk as hell,” Hinata mumbles to no one in particular. “Called it.”

Surprisingly Chiaki doesn’t say anything only mumbles something about ‘bad timing’.

* * *

 

**July 20th, 11:28 pm**

**Movies**

 

 

“I actually like a lot of different movies, but there are some that I wouldn’t watch even if they paid me. I can’t say anything about the genre but lately I’ve come to like these really really bad romcoms. My favorite ones have to be the ones with long-distance relationships.”

Hinata swallows. “Yeah. I’ve come to like those too, but my favorite ones involve skinny love. That’s my confession, you can judge me now. I like shitty dramas.”

“Skinny love…?”

“Ah, well the type of love where both sides like each other but are too shy to—j-just use the internet or something, I am so not explaining this to you!”

* * *

 

**July 25th, 11:50 pm**

**Vices**

 

 

“Falling in love too fast with people I know little-to-nothing about.”

“I think I share the same vice.”

* * *

 

**July 30th, 10:47 pm**

**Lamest love confession you've ever received**

 

 

“I can’t help but feel like there’s a certain pattern involving love. Nanami, do you have something to say for yourself?”

“Nope.”

“And I said ‘no’… you know… like a LIAR,“ Hinata teases and Chiaki sticks her tongue out. “I know your ‘no’s.”

“Oh isn’t that great for you. Look, I know that you got nothing to say on the matter of confessions, but I'm just very interested. I don’t think I actually asked you that, so here’s your chance. What would be the lamest love confession and what would be the best?”

Hinata thinks about it, his thoughts somewhere with the white-haired man who is, without a doubt, listening to their show. Indeed, he never did get any love confessions, he was usually the one doing the confessing and some change would be nice. What would he like…?

“Well… If I had to go for the lamest, I’d have to pick those pretense love confessions via text or social networks. There’s nothing lower than that and if you can’t gather the courage to say it to their face then I don’t think you’re worthy of that person. But that’s just my personal opinion.”

“So in other words you’d like a confession to be said to you directly?”

“Yeah.”

“Never took you for such a romantic.”

“Oh you’d be surprised. And if we are talking about best confessions then… I’d like to go to one special place. ‘Three clovers’. Man, I must sound like a sap, but sometimes I go there just to watch awkward confessions, it’s cute and now I have to say something manly to not sound like a pansy.”

“Should they bring you flowers too, Bridget Jones?”

“A fucking bouquet or I'm not saying ‘I love you’ otherwise,” Hinata laughs and Nanami smiles, typing away at her laptop. Lately, all of her attention is mostly focused on that thing.

It’s not weird.

Maybe

* * *

 

**August 5th, 11:48 pm**

**Nanami’s professional dating service (or just talk about your day)**

 

 

“We are nearing our last minutes of the show. Thank you for all of your lovely words of encouragement. I’ll try to relay them to Hinata, who should really cut down on the pizza. Eat some vegetables, man. You’ll get fat. Then again, everything goes to your ass, so maybe it'snot that bad for your body, but I need you in good health to help me host the radio show… We still have two more shows left. It’s been a wonderful summer and we will surely miss all of you. We've become something like local celebrities here, I'm very pleasantly surprised. I have to ask you something, my dear listeners, and since we are running out of time, I’ll cut down to the chase. I am asking you, yes you, you know who I am talking about, to meet me tomorrow at ‘Three clovers’. I shall spend the whole day there if I must. There’s a waiter who works there… his name is Makoto Naegi. I am certain that you know him. When you arrive there, go up to him and he’ll lead you to me. Please. Just… answer this one last call. We both have figured out this mystery, or maybe it’s that… you didn’t do a very good job at hiding your identity. I know that you’re leaving in a few days, so let me surprise my friend before you're gone.”

* * *

 

**August 7th, 1:15 pm**

**Last chance**

 

 

It’s not that unusual for Chiaki to be late, it’s really not. There are many different reasons for her lateness, it might be that she was asleep or maybe she got distracted. It doesn’t hurt to wait, but for some reason Hinata feels a bit _off_. He keeps drumming at the tabletop with his fingers and looks around nervously. His headphones don’t drown out the sound around him, which sucks and all, because that makes him twitchy. He turns up the volume and stares at the couple seated before him, drinking tea.

Just who the hell drinks tea in this humidity?

Then again, the sudden wind that has swept over the city is cold and the only salvation from the sweltering heat. Hinata tugs at the collar of his favorite black t-shirt, swallows, and plays with his piercing.

Alright, he could forgive Nanami ten minutes of tardiness, but he's waiting here for at least half an hour.

‘I seriously don’t get her. Wasn’t she the one who begged me to go here today? She even mentioned that some parfaits would be 10 percent off which is an obvious lie.‘ The brown-haired man frowns at his lukewarm milkshake like it had offended him in some way. ‘If she’s not here in the next three minutes, I’m out.’

Hinata spaces out and counts down the seconds when there’s a cup of his favorite coffee placed before him. He pulls off his headphones and looks at the smiling face of his waiter… his friend.

“Naegi? Why did you give me this, last time I checked I didn’t order it?”

The short brunet just smiles brightly, his green eyes twinkling. “Don’t worry about it, Hinata. It’s been paid for in advance.”

The taller one looks around, eyeing the crowd suspiciously, but no face sticks out too much. “I hope it’s not from some secret fan again…”

“Don’t worry; Komaru has long since gotten over you, lady killer,” even though Naegi’s tone is playful, there’s something in it that makes Hinata feel like hiding under the table. It’s not like he really wanted to reject Naegi’s baby sister, it was just that she was… Oh I don’t know, 16 at the time? He figures that the small brunet will always hold a grudge against him for that. “I hope that you’ll have an amazing day,” the waiter winks at him and smiles as if he knows something that he does not. Before Hinata can open his mouth and question him, he’s gone like the wind that sweeps over the café whenever the glass door opens and more people walk in.

His answer about his mystery coffee comes to him a second later when he sees a small piece of paper sticking out from where the cup has it pressed. His heart rate picking up, Hinata unfolds the small letter. There are only two words scribbled on it in Chiaki’s neat handwriting.

_‘Go outside.’_

Just what the hell is happening? Is this some sort of elaborate prank? The brunet stretches out his neck in order to make out something unusual, but nothing catches his eye, so he just sighs and decides that he should play along. He leaves money for his unfinished vanilla milkshake and makes his way towards the door.

There’s no pink hair anywhere in sight, the street is unusually quiet, and Hinata feels his frustration picking up, but then he sees his pink-haired friend and his eyebrow twitches.

“Hey, what the hell is up with your games…?"

Hinata freezes in place, legs stiff and unmoving, and he feels something _painful_ tug at his chest. There… there, there, there…

_No fucking way._

He rubs at his eyes with the back of his fists, knuckles digging into his eyelids, the little piece of paper still squeezed tightly in his right palm, slowly getting wet.

“Y-You’re joking, right…?” Hinata stammers and wobbles towards the pink-haired woman and the man, _a fucking white-haired ma_ n, who's standing just a little ahead of her.

Hinata can’t tear his eyes away - it’s like someone has glued them on the white-haired man’s face.

Komaeda stands there with a gentle smile on his face, stupid perfect hair swaying in the cool breeze, his fucking _absolutely not green_ eyes twinkling with a million emotions which make Hinata’s mouth go dry. He’s just standing there in all of his 180 centimeters glory, swaying on his heels lightly, hands hid behind his back.

“This is a dream, right…? Nah, if I were dreaming, she wouldn’t be here…?”

Chiaki smiles that infuriating _knowing_ smile and says “Merry very early Christmas to you, brother!”

Hinata can’t hear her because the moment her muffled voice reaches his ears, he lunges towards the white-haired man at the same time he does - and god, did hugs always feel so _amazing?_

Komaeda’s breath is hot against his shoulder and the tip of his nose presses into the side of Hinata’s neck and _oh god, this is perfect, it’s perfect,_ it’s all that he's ever wanted. This is better than his puny little wishes and he's never felt this _free_ , not since he had felt what the real world was like without any parents to restrict him. The man’s laughter is even more beautiful in real life, and Hinata can’t control the loud laughter that escapes him. And why should he?

“Hey there, Hinata,” Komaeda whispers against his ear and the brunet feels his lips brushing against his cheek, feather light.

“Hey yourself,” Hinata mutters and moves away to make some space between them so that he can take a good look at the white-haired man’s face. There’s a barely visible height difference between them and _oh shit_ , the original is even hotter than the Komaeda in his imagination. His brain most definitely did not give the other enough justice.

“I finally found you, my mystery Hinata-kun.”

It takes that one sentence for all of the missing gaps to finally fill up in his brain, but he does not think about them, he can think about them _later._ They have time - all the time they need.

He presses his lips against Komaeda’s, maybe pops one foot off the ground a little like it’s one of those bad romance movies. Chiaki whispers a loud ‘eww’ somewhere in the background, but the brunet is so lost in the moment that he can’t hear anything around him, the sounds of the street lost completely.

When they break apart for some air, Komaeda bites his lower lip in that very cute way of his. “So is this you saying 'yes'?”

“…Did you bring the flowers? Oh my god you did, you nerd,” Hinata laughs when the bouquet that Komaeda has hidden behind his back is brought in front of his face. “Yes. Yes yes yes and yes again. I would have said yes even if you didn’t bring me anything.”

“Can’t take any risks,” Komaeda laughs and hugs Hinata with his free arm. The brunet takes a look over Komaeda’s shoulder at Chiaki who's fixing her pink strands. She looks at them with the most tender expression on her face, the look that she only ever saves for her demon rabbit, and Hinata mouths a small ‘thank you’, vision blurry. The girl just nods and mouths ‘you owe me’.

And for once, Hinata realizes that he doesn’t mind being in the pink-haired woman’s debt.

* * *

 

Nanami does not fail to mention the fact that he and Komaeda are now officially a couple when they host their last radio show, but for some reason Hinata doesn’t mind.

"Fuckin' finally," says Souda as he hangs up.


End file.
